A Lesson in Chemistry
by lastyearsthing
Summary: Sakura finds out that what she can learn in the safety of a chemistry lab doesn't always apply on a mission with Hatake Kakashi.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters from that manga. Masashi Kishimoto is the dude with it all.

WARNING LABEL: Use of overused kakasaku plot devices, drinking, snogging, flirtation and general crack situations will ensue. Hope you like. This fic is not to be taken seriously.

A Lesson in Chemistry

Chapter 1 - The Science of Touch

* * *

"I suck," Sakura groaned from her prostrate position. She lay prone and flat against the canvas ring reserved for sparring matches and ninja bouts of all kinds. Funny thing, she had never really felt how hard the floor of it was…until now. Judging by the impact of her head, she'd say it had no give at all. 

Tonight, Haruno Sakura was the doormat. Tonight, she got her ass handed to her on a silver platter by someone approximately half her age.

Rubbing her jaw lightly, she looked at the young Chuunin who was practically posturing like she'd just done the greatest jutsu in the Chuunin exams. And there were many spectators - way too many spectators to ever save face.

Sakura could hear the jibes and comments now. She'd never live it down.

Turning her pounding head to the right, she spied her Shishou, Tsunade, looking less than congenial. Sakura could only hope that the lack of the Hokage's amusement proved that she was drunk.

"Sakura…" Tsunade spat from her table at the edge of the arena, shaking her head.

_No luck. Sober_.

A shadow finally blocked out the bright arena lights above her and Sakura looked up to see Uzumaki Naruto. His bright blond hair looked like a golden halo perfectly framing his disgusted look. An angry cherub, if you will.

His eyes roved over her outstretched arms, splayed legs, and the shoulder length pink hair matted to the sweaty flooring.

He was clucking his tongue in disgust. "Sakura-chan….you suck."

Sucking in a little, Sakura managed to dislodge the tooth that had wiggled its painful self loose and she spat it out onto the mat in a perfect blood-trailed arc.

"Ew, Sakura. Disgusting."

"Could you get that for me, Naruto," Sakura said weakly as she closed her eyes.

It was confirmed. She sucked.

Even the idiot knew it.

* * *

Being a ninja isn't always easy. There are rules to memorize, comprehend and obey at all times. Protecting comrades and earning money in perilous missions were the pursuits and pride of all Shinobi. But sometimes a ninjacould slip out of that mode that keeps them in tune with what makes them deadly. Haruno Sakura managed to blast out of that mode like a cannonball and right into a research lab for two years. 

Sure, it was important work; researching medical jutsu was am upper-level job. She got to save lives instead of taking them. That was a bonus in any nin's book.

But she was now what her Shishou so vehemently and abhorrently termed as "rusty." Rusty didn't sound bad unless one's teacher said it with a scrunched up nose like she smelled something bad in the room. To Sakura's dismay, Tsunade maintained that face the entire time she spoke with her after her match. Maybe Sakura embarrassed her?

"Sakura, I've noticed that you've gotten a little…rrrruuuusssstyyy."

_Damn it. Did she have to drag it out like that?_

Funny enough, Sakura previously felt that with all her antics, Tsunade didn't have the ability to be embarrassed. Sakura had been embarrassed for her many times and came to the conclusion that the woman felt no shame after she walked around Konoha with a mission paper stuck to her forehead and toilet paper dragging behind her shoe for two hours one morning.

Sakura was twenty-one and more capable and intelligent than many of her fellow ninja. She was just…out of practice. That sounded so much nicer than rusty.

But if Tsunade was embarrassed of her, the hit must have really looked bad, like- all-time-ninja-hall-of-failure–bad.

Flying headfirst into the floor after a girl half her size connects her just right might look a little pathetic from a ninja's standpoint. Ok, it would look horrible, but who was Sakura to begrudge some up-and-comer from getting a lucky hit?

Yeah, that's what it was.

"Shishou, it was just a lucky hit."

"Rusty, Sakura. Ruuuusssty."

_Damn it._

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk growling at the morning sun, which ignored the pleas of her hangover to go down. She sat half-slumped on her arm, keeping a wary eye on the mission reports under her tired eyes. The ugly stack of papers was follow-up from completed missions and she was starting to see a disturbing trend. 

Every other A-ranked, unranked, and S-class mission seemed to be signed off as completed by a smiley face with a scar over one eye.

"Shizune? Why is Kakashi taking all the dangerous missions? Is he saving up for something? Getting married? Trying to get killed?"

"Kakashi…married," Shizune snorted into her coffee. Composing herself quickly, she straightened her outfit and added quietly, "I think he's trying to do his duty to the fullest, ma'am."

"Well, we can't have him hogging all the high priced missions. And we can't let him get burned out from constant stressful duties. He needs a break. Remember Hyuuga Neji and the shower incident? He said it was mission stress. We already know Kakashi has an addiction to smut. We don't want that going awry, do we? He needs an easy mission."

"Agreed, Tsunade-sama. But what sort of mission do you have in mind?"

Tsunade tapped her forehead with one long fingernail. Shizune could almost see the smoke as the wheels started to turn. Tsunade finally grinned.

"Well, he used to teach. I have someone in need of some help. Someone…rusty."

Shizune rolled her eyes. Sakura wasn't rusty; she just seemed to not be concentrating that day. The young woman who knocked her down got in a good shot and Sakura never used her chakra in hand-to-hand spars. She could kill someone. But Tsunade saw things as Tsunade saw things and Kakashi and Sakura would have to bow to her _wisdom_ for a little while.

"Shizune, have Kakashi here at 2:00 for briefing. Have Sakura here at 3:00."

Shizune's eyebrows rose as she watched Tsunade begin manically searching through books piled behind her desk. Whatever she had planned was not going to be pretty.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi sat comfortably in the wooden chair across from the Hokage's desk running his fingers along the spine of the Icha Icha Paradise manga he held tightly. The desperate tickle to open it was growing so much so that Tsunade's words were getting lost from her mouth to his ears. Mission briefings by the Sannin were always so droning; it was hard to stay focused. 

When a pause in her diatribe ensued, Kakashi replied just because he figured it was his turn. "Yes, addicted…I mean…rusty…yes Ma'am," he mumbled as he lovingly rubbed the cover of the orange book.

"Did you hear a word I said, Hatake?" Tsunade eyed him noticing the glazed look in that one eye.

"Every single one, Hokage-sama," he said so nonchalantly that she had to believe him.

"Alright, Kakashi. You're dismissed. Pick up your student at 4:00 at the main gate. But remember to keep that little fact about teaching her secret. Understand?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama," Kakashi responded mechanically. He pushed up from the chair and flipped open the dog-eared and well-read pages of his favorite volume. Wandering out the open door Shizune held, he was already engrossed in the budding romance (among other dirty things) of the main characters within seconds.

The large wooden door snapped shut loudly behind him, pulling him back to reality.

_Student?_

* * *

Sakura sat sheepishly in the same chair Kakashi had occupied an hour before. Sighing deeply, she prepared herself for the rusty chat again. But much to Sakura's great relief, Tsunade appeared to have something else on her mind when their conversation actually began. 

The Hokage pulled a scroll from the top drawer of her desk and held it out for Sakura.

"Sakura, I have a mission to send you on. This scroll is to be delivered to a contact in Sand in a few days time. I have a second scroll with the mission details. You'll be accompanying Jounin Hatake."

"Hatake Kakashi? I didn't think he did anything but solo S-class missions. Is this an S-class?" Sakura's voice revealed some excitement.

"Erm…no, no, not quite that extreme. But it _is_ important. Kakashi has been overextending himself on the higher ranked missions and I want him to take it a little easier. I think he misses your team so I thought it would be nice to reacquaint you two. Naruto and Sasuke are busy with ANBU right now, so I think it would be nice for you to….uh…take one for the team." Tsunade eyed Shizune who had her face turned away and her hand in her mouth to stifle the snorts.

Sakura creased her brow in suspicion but figured anything was better than hanging around the lab and waiting for Tsunade to insist she begin sparring with Gai for practice.

"Well, I guess it would be nice to have Kakashi…"

"Yes, it would." Tsunade ignored her and continued. "Okay, take the scroll and meet him at the front gate at 4:00 today. Oh, and if Kakashi tries to…you know… mentor you, just remember that he probably misses it and bear with him. You know, go along with anything he tries to teach you."

Sakura bit her tongue and fought rolling her eyes. Hatake Kakashi _never_ entertained the idea of teaching them after he washed his hands of them at 12. To think he would try to take up a teacher role – unprompted – made Sakura almost want to laugh…almost.

Right now, the thought of tossing the scroll at the diamond on Tsunade's forehead was almost overwhelming.

Shizune came over quickly and wished Sakura good luck while taking the opportunity to usher her to the door. Sakura noticed the bite mark on Shizune's right hand, just as Shizune noticed the throbbing vein on Sakura's forehead.

They nodded in understanding and Sakura left, two scrolls in her clenched fists.

* * *

Four o'clock (or more accurately five o'clock) at the main gate provided a small bit of entertainment for Sakura. It seemed that the border guards were overly bored so they made continuous attempts to think of the best pick-up line to try on her. Sakura laughed appropriately, and then turned around, poking her uvula in hopes of vomiting. 

"I'm going to kill you, Hatake," she grumbled softly, glancing at the clock in the gate office above the grinning male faces as it reached 5:16.

Wandering slowly, as there was never a need to rush for Kakashi, Sakura grabbed a snack of dango on the way to his apartment. Finally approaching his meager building, she sat on the curb across the street and waited. If there was one thing she knew about Hatake Kakashi, it was that he never rushed.

Tucking her sandaled feet against the curb and putting her knees together, she placed the box of sweets on her lap. With a sigh of resignation, she lifted the first stick of dango to her mouth.

Just as the first bite went down her throat, the discernable pop of chakra announced two people behind her. She didn't have to turn to see who it was.

"Here she is," Naruto's happy voice cut through the silent enjoyment of her treat. "Serendipity," he added looking at the full box on her lap.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura sighed, smacking the hand reaching over her shoulder. She looked up to see Naruto and Sasuke standing behind her, both smirking and enjoying the fact that she was back at square one while they were able to cross their arms over ANBU vests.

"Just passing by. We're heading to an away mission for a month. We were going to come and let you know we'd be gone. What are you doing?" Sasuke said evenly as he took a seat on one side of Sakura. Naruto sat on the other and before she knew it, a stick of dango was in his hand.

"Mission…at four o'clock. How did you find me here?" Sakura shook her head and tried not to look too exasperated.

"We heard you were heading on a mission with Kakashi. I just ran into Shizune at the Hokage Tower. From there it was easy. Hatake Kakashi – always late. Haruno Sakura – impatient. We figured you'd just come here and wait." Naruto smiled happily, so proud of his successful deductive reasoning.

Sakura couldn't think of a way to rebut that. She was impatient, though better than she was in her teens. And yes, as seldom as they had seen him in the past few years, Hatake Kakashi was still perpetually and annoyingly late.

"Can I have a dango, Sakura?" Naruto asked, already reaching into the box again.

Sakura sighed and dropped the box into his hands. Naruto made a small noise of appreciation between bites.

"Hm, what's this?" a familiar bored voice asked from the front step of the apartment building across from the trio. Sakura looked up to see Kakashi sitting on the bottom stair, arms balanced on knees, and that familiar orange book dangling in his hand. A fair size pack sat beside him and he looked as bored and unaffected as ever.

Simultaneously, Sakura and Naruto mumbled, "You're late."

* * *

Back at the Konoha gates, Kakashi seemed to virtually ignore them as he stared out at the forest beyond the large doors. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura seemed to be in deep conversation about ANBU and it interested him in no way, shape, or form. _Been there, done that_ crossed his mind, and he sighed quietly. 

As he waited for the conversation to end or at least pause, he spied some of the younger Chuunin who guarded the gate wandering closer to get involved.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

Sakura looked up at him. She knew that sound. It was the sound of 'time to go' or 'am I interrupting?' or 'that was amusing but I won't openly laugh at you so I'll camouflage it as a cough.'

"Kakashi-senpai? Do you need some water?" she said in a honeyed tone.

Kakashi wasn't oblivious to her sweet sarcasm. But the last string of his patience was stretching out. "Time to go."

_Ah, that throat-clear. _"Alright," she said cooperatively and nodded to Naruto and Sasuke.

Taking a step, Sakura felt her arm grasped by strong fingers. "So Sakura? You are all alone with Kakashi on this mission." Naruto drew close but didn't manage to keep his voice down.

"So?"

"So…try to get a look at his face if you can."

"Are you kidding?"

"No, just try. We haven't seen it. I'm still curious." Naruto nudged Sasuke who looked thoroughly embarrassed to be within earshot of this conversation…as was Kakashi.

"I'd have a better chance of seeing his ass, Naruto," Sakura sighed, getting impatient to leave.

"Naw, we've seen that already. Just his face."

Sakura's eyes widened for several reasons. The first reason being Naruto's persistence in something they gave up on as children; the second being that Naruto had seen Kakashi's ass. Sakura had never contemplated what Kakashi's ass might look like before. It had the potential to become the sort of annoyingly disgusting idea that gets trapped in the brain to become a nightmare when finally getting to sleep.

Spinning on her heel, Sakura didn't say goodbye. All her effort went into pulling the damaging last two minutes from her mind.

Their farewell calls met her ears as she wandered out behind Kakashi, but she only raised a tensehand in response.

* * *

Three hours passed slowly and not a word had been said. The cicadas seemed to have a lot to say, as had the birds, but not Hatake Kakashi. Seemed that the only thing interesting him was his book. 

Small fantasies about tossing it up and pounding it into dust played in her mind on repeat, as did the reoccurring mental image of what his behind might look like – although she had to admit he did seem like he was in shape. As far as bodies went, she'd rate him a nine. She supposed walking behind someone for three hours was bound to make you look after a while, so guilt was a non-issue.

_Definitely too much time to think on this mission._

All in all, the early evening was not shaping up well.

Night was starting to fall and the stars were peeking out among the tree branches overhead. Sakura tripped on a tree root and realized that her feet were getting tired.

_Oh god, I am rusty._

Making an exaggerated yawn, Kakashi stretched and popped his spine before snapping his book shut. "So, Sakura. What are you now? Seventeen…eighteen?" he asked with mild curiosity while surveying the small clearing in which they had stopped. He took in the stream beside it and the heavily leafed canopy above.

"Twenty-one," Sakura responded dryly.

"Oh," Kakashi chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well I should have guessed that. I mean…I am twenty-six now."

Sakura rubbed her forehead and laughed in frustrated amusement. "That thirty-four just sounded a lot like twenty-six, Senpai. Did you want to make camp here?"

Kakashi hm'd his acceptance and Sakura could see that he was already shrugging off his pack.

At least there were some words exchanged. At least it wouldn't be complete silence. Maybe when he tried to _teach_ her something - because of his great desperate need to _teach_ - then there would be more conversation.

Within an hour, the fire was blazing and the sleeping bags were out. Kakashi decided to take the second shift of sentry duty and give Sakura the time to sleep in the morning. Although he'd never tell Sakura, he had slept until noon and felt he wouldn't need as much sleep as she would. When he was sensei to Team Seven, she was always the first up in the mornings, and he figured old habits died hard.

Getting comfortable, Sakura sat down on the soft green bedroll she always used and watched Kakashi tossing broken branches into the fire. He was casual and seemed rather bored with the whole thing.

Sakura finally sighed, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-senpai. I'm sure you didn't want to do this mission. This must be incredibly boring to be paired with me. I know you're used to S-class level missions."

Kakashi looked at her and she could see his eye narrow slightly. "Why would you think that?" he asked calmly as he sat back on his own bedroll.

Sakura unbuckled her leg guards from her shins and slipped off her shoes to toss them to the side. She unclipped her short medic skirt and folded it neatly beside the shin-guards. Only left in her short black shorts and red tunic, she put her bare legs in front of her and stretched her fingers to her toes.

After the crack of a few joints and a deep breath, she seemed to slump a little.

"I know that Tsunade stuck you with retraining me, Senpai."

"Retraining?" Kakashi waved that off almost too casually before he pulled his headband off and unzipped his vest. Scratching his fingers roughly through his hair, he then settled back and looked at his younger companion with both eyes.

Sakura's head dipped and she looked up at him with the same look she normally had when punching something to pieces. It was not unfamiliar to Kakashi. He'd seen the business side of that look from under great chunks of broken ground once.

"She wants you to train me because she thinks I'm rusty. Well, I can tell you that I'm not."

"I'm certain you aren't," Kakashi added, all the while wracking his brain for a piece of his conversation with the Hokage. Perhaps Tsunade had said 'rusty' and Kakashi couldn't remember. _Damn Icha Icha Paradise obsession._

"Tsunade-shishou said I was the rustiest rust that rust had ever seen. She said that I was the rustiest rust to ever rust on the rusty side of rust."

Kakashi rubbed through his hair with one hand again, making it messier than it usually was. "That seems harsh."

"Well, I'm paraphrasing. But I know that you're here to train me. I can assure you that there is no need. It was… just a lucky hit."

"Oh yeah! The ten-year-old girl. I heard about that. I'm sorry I missed it."

"She was not ten!" Sakura growled, but then forced some self-control. "She was… twelve… almost thirteen."

"I see."

"Anyway." Sakura composed herself. "I've been busy in the lab for a couple of years so I haven't had time to practice."

"Of course," Kakashi said coolly as he leaned back and crossed his feet. "What are you working on in the lab?"

Sakura seemed to brighten from her previously slumped state. Seems he hit the happy button with his question.

"Body chemistry and how our bodies react to certain stimuli. We are trying to produce certain reactions with chakra. If we can find a way to use chakra to interrogate, or even create sensations or feelings in individuals we are undercover around, then the need for hiding weapons on the body decreases. It's safer than trying to get a kunai into some spy situations."

"I see."

One pink eyebrow rose as Sakura examined his parroted answer. Sure, he wasn't excited by medical jutsu and research, but at least he could seem nominally interested out of courtesy. But then again, he was the lazy copy-nin from her preteen days. Nothing at all seemed to have changed about him.

"Let me show you," she said evenly as she pushed up from her bed and walked barefoot through the warm grass toward him. Sitting down on his bedroll beside him, she could see his eyes widen a little. She crossed her legs and pointed to his hand. "Do you mind if I…?"

Sakura reached down and grasped his wrist. She lifted his arm up and held her fingers over his bare skin between the leather glove and his rolled up sleeve.

Kakashi watched, his attention finally fully on her.

"As I press chakra into the cells of your arm, I can create a reaction along your skin."

Immediately, Kakashi felt the goose bumps prickle along his skin, making the fine hair stand up on end. A shiver went down his spine and he could actually say that his arm felt cold. Tensed fingers finally finished off the entire process and he laughed a little. "Interesting."

"It is. I've tricked your cells into thinking that it's cold. Notice the goose bumps. I didn't cause that, your body did."

Kakashi sat up from his recline. "Mind if I try?"

Sakura smiled. "You copied it, didn't you?"

"Number one thousand and one," he smirked. Putting his hand under her wrist, he gently lifted her arm and ran his fingers along her forearm. Goose flesh shivered under his fingers, and Sakura followed his touch with her eyes.

"Funny. I've got goose bumps but I don't really feel the cold."

Kakashi looked at her blankly. "I haven't used my chakra yet."

They stared at each other for a second.

The crickets seemed extremely loud all of a sudden.

"Oh," Sakura said a little too happily, "My arm is…well the skin is…very sensitive. Well, your fingers are…um…your touch is… gentle…light…" She cringed. Withdrawing her arm, she stood up and moved to her bedroll a little more quickly than confidence would let on. She plopped down and glanced at Kakashi who already had his orange book open. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the inner rant starting up.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I've been told that before."

When her head snapped back up, he seemed to be ignoring her again but his eyes were creased with amusement.

_Geez._

"Well, you get the idea." She tried to appear unfazed. "Chakra stimulation is a very interesting field," shemumbled with slight indignation.

"Oh I agree. I can see a lot of possibilities for that type of chakra usage," Kakashi said from behind his book.

"You do! I know. I'm fairly excited about what could come next if we perfect the use of chakra for what we'd normally use chemicals for. I'd like to…." Sakura stopped when she saw Kakashi's creased eyes looking over his book at her.

"That isn't what you meant, is it?" she drawled.

Kakashi chuckled and refocused on reading by the firelight.

Sakura lay down on her bedroll, refusing to acknowledge his insinuation. _Pervert,_ she thought to herself.

For a long time, she lay on her bedroll and watched the stars overhead. After about an hour, Kakashi's heavy sleeping breaths filled the small camp.

Sakura blew out a breath angrily. "Damn it. He's right. Why the hell didn't I think of that?"

* * *

A/N: thanks roark28 as always for the beta read. Thanks to icarust who bouncedthe crazy ideas for this fic with me. Thanks ladies. 


	2. A Lesson in Respect

Chapter 2 – A lesson in respect

* * *

Dawn was coming, and Hatake Kakashi rubbed at his stubbly chin to feel the hairs poking out through the black cloth on the lower half of his face. It was getting mildly itchy. Maybe that goatee was a bad idea. No one would see it anyway; perhaps it was time for a shave. 

_Eh, maybe tomorrow._

Looking down from where he was sprawled comfortably in a tall Konoha tree, he eyed the sleeping kunoichi he was going to be saddled with for the next week or so. One very respectable and capable Ms. Haruno Sakura snored with the most unladylike grunts he'd ever heard (not that he was well-acquainted with the average women's sleeping noises).

He chuckled to himself, remembering her embarrassment the night before. He didn't mind the close interaction with her; she seemed very mature and a little more self-aware than he recalled. For starters, she wasn't going on about a boy, her clothes, or the discomfort of a rustic mission. Seeing her get excited about the work she was doing, which was a very respectable and admired field in Konoha, made him decide she deserved some respect.

At least she wasn't insanely temperamental anymore.

Which is why he felt bad that they'd both landed in their current situation, although it was certainly a nice break from chasing down nail polish wearing criminals or escorting diplomats with high prices on their heads.

The last S-class mission he was on cost him one of his favourite weapons and so a D-ranked mission, although well beneath both their standards, was a welcome change. Unfortunately, he could imagine he was missing out on some big cash in the form of unranked fodder, but when Tsunade said 'Jump', he was forced to grumble back 'How low?'

Uh, but teaching again…

How do you teach a student who doesn't require your expertise?

How do you put effort into the equivalent of a mission placebo?

The answer? Well you couldn't.

Plan 1: He'd just try not to get her mad.

Plan 2: He'd just try not to get her mad.

But then again, he was Hatake Kakashi. He'd never catered to women's tirades before, so why would he start now? Although this particular woman could turn him into squishy pulp in his sleep, there had to be some fun to fill the days from now until the pointless information exchange.

And maybe, just maybe, he'd get in some good reading.

Watching her sleeping, snorting, and shifting her green bedroll in a sleepy fit, he decided it was time to chip the rust off her skills - whatever minute amount there may be.

When he slipped down to the ground beside her, her grunts turned to words and she confessed her love of strawberry pancakes, giving soft laurels to extra whip cream.

He laughed quietly, and she shifted again to stick her toes out of the sleeping bag. Kakashi used two fingers to flip the bottom up and over to expose her feet up to her ankles.

His thoughts returned to the jutsu he'd copied from her the night before. A simple cell chakra infusion, but something he couldn't do without copying. Even now, it would be imperfect, but he'd give it the old Jounin try.

Molding the chakra, he held his hand over Sakura's feet, working hard not to wake her. When the goose flesh began to dimple her smooth legs and her pedicured toes curled tightly, he had to fight to stop from laughing.

Her feet slid up and she pulled her knees to her front as she directed muffled, indignant grunts to no one. Half asleep, Sakura's clumsy hand began to feel around for the blanket when her fingers met something hard.

"What the…?" Sakura half sat up and sleepily glared at the man crouching next to her. Pushing the pink rat-nest out of her face, she held up the cylindrical object to find an open mission scroll. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she read the huge words scrawled in large red capitals.

DO NOT BRING HER BACK UNTIL SHE CAN FIGHT! 

Sakura looked up at Kakashi again and sighed. "She's such an understanding mentor. Look, there are eleven exclamation marks. Like ten wouldn't have been enough." She held it out to him, pointing at the red scratches. "This is your mission directive?"

Kakashi stood up, took the scroll from her, and grinned behind his mask with exaggerated happiness. "I'm afraid so. I'll give you five minutes to wake up, then we'll get moving." He briefly reminded her of Sai with his lack of social etiquette or empathy.

Groaning, she flopped back face down on her bed, trying to ignore his cheerful tone and faker-than-fake smile. "When the hell did you become a morning person?" she growled into the bedroll, her voice muffled and deep.

The side of the bedroll lifted with a snap and Sakura rolled out into the dewy grass. She opened her eyes and squinted at the sun overhead until Kakashi's form blocked it out.

"Since two AM," he said evenly as he leaned over her face, "Come on. Let's shake the rust off."

Her hand smacked over her eyes as she let out a long exasperated breath and hissed, "I can't believe you said that."

* * *

Kneeling, Sakura tried hard to ignore the sandaled feet walking along the water back and forth in front of her as she dipped a facecloth in the frigid water of the stream. The irritating plops and splashes he made finally broke apart her patience and she grunted a sound of annoyance. She hoped he would get the hint, but of course, he didn't… or rather wouldn't. 

That was it, she thought. He'd finally turned ignoring her into an art form.

"You know, Senpai, they say that when animals pace, they are either getting ready to attack or have lost their minds. Which one are you?" She looked up and he stopped.

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head. "Did you just equate me with an animal?"

"If the paw fits."

"I thought you were a morning person?"

"At twelve – yes. Twenty one – maybe more of a mid-morning person." She smiled exaggeratedly and Kakashi huffed a small laugh. She reminded him of Naruto just then.

Sakura rubbed her face with the cold towel and sighed. "So what are we doing that requires me to be alert at the first rays of dawn?" Her words were muffled.

The sound of Kakashi's feet moving along the water told her he had finally made his way up onto the bank.

"I want to check a couple of things out," he said calmly from a few steps away. Sakura wasn't positive, and prayed her mind was playing some evil trick, but she thought she might have heard something jingle. Slowly lifting her head up, she stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the silver object glinting in the sun at Kakashi's waist.

Jerking up to stand, she pointed at the bell with an accusing finger over the wet fabric in her hand. "Are you kidding? That is a test for a genin." She spun the wet face cloth in her fingers and launched it at the man standing quite casually across from her with crossed arms.

It wasn't a hard throw, and Kakashi only had to step aside to avoid the projectile, but she made her point. _Messy pulp when asleep_, he reminded himself. Seems he'd already failed Plan 1 and Plan 2.

Bending easily, Kakashi picked up the wet facecloth and held it out to her. "You dropped something."

"Damn. Missed." Sakura crossed her own arms over her red shirt and shook her head slowly.

Women's perturbation was never within Kakashi's comfort level and he closed his eye and took a deep breath, tossing the facecloth aside. Time for placating her was over.

"We _are_ going to do this, but I'll make you a deal. If you _can't_ get the bell in ten minutes, then we will continue to train until we drop off the scroll and skip training on the way back."

Sakura dropped her arms and began to walk toward him, "And if I _can_ get the bell?" Her voice was suddenly hopeful.

"It's not likely, but…" Kakashi's words were halted when Sakura disappeared and a tiny metallic jingle at his waist caught his attention. He looked down to see a hand with manicured fingernails reach around from behind him, two fingers already on the small silver bell. Before he could react, it was gone.

Kakashi looked down for a moment and smirked behind his mask_. Impressive_. _She reacted immediately. Had I had my sharingan out, I would have known it wasn't her in front of me. It was clever to use the facecloth and her temper to distract me._

With a wry smile, Sakura examined the metal object and then dangled it in her fingers, letting it jingle happily. "That's a nice sound, don't you think? Too bad I didn't get what I wanted from the deal."

Kakashi tried hard not to laugh. Instead, he ran his hand slowly through his messy silver hair and waited for her to make her next move. He was relatively sure she had one.

"Tell you what, Kakashi-Senpai, I think we should do _my_ bell test this time. If you can get the bell from of me in ten minutes, I'll cook you breakfast. If I keep the bell, however, you'll cook breakfast for me every day until the mission is over."

She jingled the bell again, taunting him.

"Well, I suppose that sounds fine. But I'll warn you…I don't like my food burnt."

Sakura's eyebrows rose in mock indignation, "Overconfident, aren't we?"

"Yes, I think _we_ are," Kakashi shot back evenly. "In that case, I won't hold back."

"It would be a disappointment if you did," she added, "Alright then, Senpai. Lets see where the rust really settled."

They waited for just a few seconds, neither moving until the moment he finally blinked. Then she was gone.

Five minutes flew by as they had spent it fighting, hiding, and fighting some more. But now they both hid among the trees after a thunderous crack of the ground produced enough dusty cover to escape.

At this point, Kakashi knew where Sakura was, but decided to draw out the suspense a little. The more she waited, the more chances of her slipping up. Everyone knew it, Haruno Sakura – impatient.

He leaned back against a tree trunk watching her and wondering exactly how well she did cook when he felt her chakra increase suddenly. She knew he was nearby.

Lifting his headband, he decided it was time to secure his breakfast.

Hovering above her in the tree, he got ready to slip down and grab the bell from her clutches. But before he could end it, she disappeared. Within seconds a gloved hand shot through the tree above as the trunk splintered into a million pieces. The wooden picks rained down around him and Kakashi began his first set of seals in immediate retailiation.

"Almost got you," she shouted and Kakashi was immediately reminded of the last bell test when she was about fifteen. That time he'd been underground and she'd shocked the hell out of him by breaking the earth apart around him.

But being the _copy_ ninja, if he didn't learn after the first time, he wasn't worthy of his name.

He completed his seals and Sakura suddenly found tree branches stretching and straining at her ankles. Losing her balance, she slipped from mid-air to dangle from the trees. A shout of "Damn iiiiiit!" accompanied her unceremonious fall. The bell came loose from her grip in the motion, but she managed to fumble it until she caught it again.

Hastily, she cut through the branches with a kunai and fell toward the earth. She managed to right herself, landing hard, but used chakra to cushion it. Her feet tingled with the impact and she hissed a little.

Of course, Kakashi was gone.

Flush against a tree and making her plan, Sakura slid a small thin kunai into her black suede glove while she waited. The tip of the kunai lay along her middle finger, keeping it straight, and if she had to make a fist with that hand at him, she would end up insulting him one way or another.

He was close again. She could sense his chakra since he didn't seem to be hiding it at all. The tingle of adrenaline lit her stomach, making it warm. She pressed her body tight to the smooth bark and drew chakra to her feet and hands. If he came by the front, she would crack the ground and get him with the kunai as he shifted right. He always shifted right from that attack. If he came from behind, she would use the tree, pushing it over to shock him off balance.

In mid thought though, there was a sudden tightening on her chest and she looked down to see a small wire wrap around her. Pinned to the tree both upper and lower body, she growled at her situation. Only her hands could shift a little.

"Damn. It. Again!" she hissed, and laid her head back against the trunk.

Kakashi wandered up in front of her and she knew the smirk was behind that mask. "I think we are at about nine minutes, and I believe you have something for me." His eye traveled to her clenched hand and the small bell string dangling between her fingers.

"Well, actually, I do," she said quietly. With a quick swipe of the small kunai in her other hand, Sakura swiftly snapped the wire, cutting open her glove in the process. She used her chakra to propel her forward, knocking Kakashi down hard. In the least elegant way possible, Sakura managed to plop down on Kakashi's chest and push his hands down with her knees. In any other circumstance, she'd find the positioning somewhat provocative.

Kakashi wheezed with her weight pressing down on his lungs. Her skirt had fallen on his face, covering almost up to his nose because of how high up on his chest she sat. But all in all, she made a good play and managed to get him off his feet. He could give her the credit she deserved from doing that much on her own.

"Well, well, I guess I win." She smirked and jingled the bell over him.

Kakashi breathed out hard, blowing the medic skirt up off his face through the mask. His voice was strained, but it wasn't missing any of the sarcasm he reserved for just such a situation. He looked up at her from between her legs.

"This seems like an undignified way to win, don't you think?"

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe a little, but a win's a win, Senpai. And I'd say you've got about thirty-five seconds left." She was careful not to look into the sharingan and snickered as she tapped the bell on his headband, making it ping off the metal. Straightening up, she dramatically dropped the bell down her shirt. "Oh, and I like my fish slightly burnt with soy sauce, if you please."

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, fighting the urge to toss her into the tree for his next move. Unfortunately for Sakura, he settled on crossing his leg over her front and flipping her onto her back. It happened so fast that when she hit, her eyes widened and her reaction was slow.

Kakashi was on top of her fast, pinning her legs with his feet and her wrists with one of his hands while straddling her hips. His other hand was at her waist. "You were saying?"

"Um…" Sakura's chagrin was apparent.

But if her sad relinquish of power wasn't bad enough, a pause ensued when they both realized where the bell was. Kakashi's eyes traveled down to her chest.

Heavy breaths filled the small space between them. Sakura's body still felt the rush of adrenaline, but a small anticipation that he would actually try to win gripped her. Even though she had succumbed to him in the test, she still had the upper hand. It was exhilarating.

He was causing all her reactions by looking at her like that. Inner conflict meant he was viewing her differently. Somewhere inside, she knew she always wanted him to respect her. The juxtaposition of her current submissive position with her dominance over the situation was liberating.

"You've got about twenty seconds, Senpai," she whispered, goading his decision.

She could feel his cool fingertips lightly pressing on the skin between her shorts and shirt. He must have slipped them in during the tumble, but for now, they were still.

Kakashi's face became serious. He watched her green eyes narrow with her confidence and at that moment he could say with absolution that she was no longer a child. All the moves she made were calculated and sure. Rusty was a ridiculous word to describe her. In that last assurance of keeping the bell, she'd made a move she felt positive he wouldn't counter.

His fingers twitched on her side, and she flinched.

"Four seconds."

Kakashi finally released her wrists and pushed himself off to stand and calmly walk away. He didn't acknowledge her when she laughed out, "…one!"

Slouching his way over to crouch by the fire he'd lit earlier, he used a large twig to nudge the wood and stoke the flames. For now, he'd try to ignore the way she pumped her fist in the air while still lying down. At least her _hell ya's_ were just mouthed in consideration.

By this time, Sakura had sat up, calmed herself, and was straightening her outfit. Her voice drifted over to where he sat and it sounded light and just mildly condescending. "You know, if you had treated me like an adult, you might have won."

Kakashi glanced over to her, lifted his hand, and jingled the small silver bell.

With a hidden snicker, he admired the slow widening of her eyes and the way her mouth dropped open.

Sakura unzipped her shirt down to her bra-line and began searching. When she looked up in defeat, she could see his eye was creased.

He grinned with what Sakura imagined was a schoolboy's smirk and chided, "I like my fish with rice…if you please."

* * *

They ate breakfast – the one she made - mostly in silence. Kakashi had wandered to the stream and pulled down his mask to eat, keeping his back to her. Sakura sat near the fire and calculated over and over how many other men would have actually taken the bell out of her shirt. In her estimation, even Jiraiya wouldn't have had the guts. Naruto – no chance, Kiba - maybe, Sasuke – absolutely never. 

Placing her small bowl of breakfast on her knees, Sakura watched Kakashi slowly raising the rice to his mouth with his fingers. The man was stealthy. She hadn't even felt him grab the bell. Maybe that was too bad, she mused inwardly, to get a man's hand down your shirt and not feel anything. Normally she'd berate herself for that thought, but she was too tired. Lack of proper sleep the night before was catching up with her.

Kakashi stood tall, seeming to stare out over the water and eating calmly. As usual, his stance was casual, placing his weight mostly on one leg. She liked that about him. Every situation they were in from the time she was young, he found some inner way to relax and seem unaffected. He was a really impressive man, and she decided she might tell him that if the conversation ever turned that way (which in the absence of general conversation, she very much doubted it).

For now, she would just watch him eating, unfazed and relaxed. Inadvertently, her tired eyes perused his form and Naruto's admission came back to her about seeing Kakashi's behind. She laughed to herself about it and decided that her evaluation of him had now risen to ten.

_Yep, nice ass._

* * *

Kakashi's fingers shook as he raised the rice to his mouth. Only half the grains made it past his lips and the rest scattered on the sandy bank under his feet. 

I can't believe she did that. I can't believe she put that bell down her shirt.

With effort, the idea that it was fair play reasoned its way into his panicked mind, but it didn't make him feel much better. In the bell test, all is fair. At least that is what he had always thought when failing everyone. But she was the first to shove the object of the test down into her bra and dare him to retrieve it…which he did.

Hopefully Sakura wasn't going to pound him into the equivalent of Jounin coloured mashed potatoes in his sleep. And hopefully no one would find out that he'd had his hand up her shirt –least of all Tsunade.

Taking a long painfully deep breath, Kakashi tried hard to find peace with the situation. Maybe it would come later, he prayed with little real hope. Slipping his mask back up, he finally turned around and looked at the glazed stare of the tired kunoichi. Unfortunately, she happened to be staring right at him…well,his lower half.

Sakura realized she'd been busted and quickly began scooping rice into her mouth at Naruto speed, intensely focused on the bowl on her knees.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

Sakura sighed, trying to force down the mouthful of food. That sounded like an '_I caught you but I won't say anything_' throat clear.

Without looking up, Sakura concentrated on her small meal and listened to the crunch of the bank pebbles under his feet as he neared the campfire. Chancing a quick glance, she tried hard not to look guilty.

Kakashi breathed in and finally changed the unspoken subject, "When you're finished, we'll head to an ANBU camp on the outskirts. We might be able to get a tent each for the night, maybe even a cot."

Sakura nodded happily, figuring that a cot was better than lumpy ground any day, and mumbled "_Mur fing_" through her rice filled mouth.

Kakashi got the idea.

* * *

A five-hour trek led them to one of the various camps on the outskirts of the Fire Country and Sakura marvelled at how different it was to what she imagined. All her years on missions with Team 7 and later Team Kakashi consisted of bedrolls, a pathetic fire, and burnt fish on a stick. 

Hell, ANBU camp was ambrosia!

Men played cards around small folding tables, laughing and betting. People cooked real food in real pots and there was music somewhere. It seemed more like camping than work and she figured hanging out there wasn't going to be too much of a hardship.

And besides, every tall, good-looking man had on a sleek, tight fitted, muscle hugging, shoulder baring, glove wearing ANBU uniform. Enough said

Kakashi stopped as they entered the camp and looked down at Sakura who stopped next to him. "This might be a pain. We could find a good clearing by the stream if you like?"

Sakura wiped at the trickle of drool on her lip and then shook her head. "Ah, no no, I think we can put up with this for one night."

Kakashi nodded. He wasn't oblivious to the way her eyes fixed on everything ANBU. Fondly he remembered the looks he would get in his. Wearing an ANBU uniform could be equated with the most potent of aphrodisiacs.

Ah, those were the days, he sighed inwardly.

"Hey Hatake," Shiranui Genma laughed from across the camp. He jogged lightly over to the pair standing out like sore thumbs and his eyes settled on Sakura.

Sakura stared back at him and waited. It was coming. She could see it in his face as his lips curled into a smirk around that damn senbon.

"You won't stand out at all, will you," he laughed, running his eyes over her.

"Eh, Genma. Give her a break," Kakashi cut in. "Sakura, why don't you get something to eat and I'll check us in with the base commander."

Sakura nodded again, giving Kakashi an appreciative glance for saving her from the lecherous flirtation of his senbon-chewing friend. She moved calmly over to a fire pit and found a couple of female ANBU chatting. She didn't know them, but it seemed like a good place to sit, eat, and gawk from.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had announced them to prevent being arrested. He followed Genma to a small group lazing around in some shade next to a high-stakes game of shougi.

"Hey, Kakashi-Senpai. Is that Haruno Sakura with you?" a young ANBU Kakashi knew as Hideki asked. The other men seemed to perk up when the conversation started and Kakashi was instantly leery.

"The one and only," Genma answered for him.

"I didn't think she left the lab," another young man commented. "I like the cerebral chicks with nice bodies. Well rounded, you know."

Kakashi sighed, "We are on a mission for a few days for the Hokage."

"Damn she's hot," Hideki hummed as he watched her sitting and having a conversation with the women nearby. His gaze travelled over her so many times, Kakashi wondered if he was making a roadmap by memory. "Are you two staying the night?"

* * *

Sakura inched closer to the two women on the log by the fire.Their voices grew a little quieter but the conversation picked up speed. 

"I haven't seen Hatake Kakashi in an ANBU camp in years. I guess we're lucky," the first woman giggled.

"It would be luckier if he was in an ANBU uniform. I wonder what he's doing here? Think he'll stay the night?" the second woman asked. They looked at each other intently and then both sets of wide brown eyes turned to Sakura.

Sakura reactively put her hands up, dropping her bowl of food.

"Are you on a mission with him?"

Sakura looked over at Kakashi who looked like he was ready to kill someone. "Um, yeah. Two days now. We're heading into the Sand country."

"Alone?" the first kunoichi said while twisting her hair at the ends in anticipation.

"Uh, yeah." Sakura fought the confused look creeping on her face.

"You're so lucky. Look at that man. What I wouldn't give for a solo mission with him." The two kunoichi nudged each other and laughed. The first turned to Sakura again. "Are you two staying the night?"

"That was the plan, I think. Why?"

They both laughed a little more conspiratorially than Sakura liked, and she believed that poor Kakashi looked like a juicy T-bone steak to the ravenous women.

"I wonder what's under that mask," the second said off-handedly while all three stared at the copy-nin. Sakura began to wonder a little herself and was quite intrigued by the excitement his presence had seemed to cause. With all the young, hot ANBU men running around, these two women were crazy about the messy white-haired Jounin?

"What's the appeal?" Sakura said quietly although she had an idea of what they'd say. She knew what she would remark on if they had asked her.

Two sets of narrowed eyes looked at her again and she put her chin on her hands, leaning on her knees while continuing to stare at Kakashi.

"He's smart, strong, attractive, he's mysterious, and he's one of the best ninja we'll ever meet in our lifetime. You have to imagine that it would take some sort of amazing kunoichi to catch his eye. Every woman wants to catch a piece of history for herself…even just for a night."

They giggled riotously but Sakura ignored them.

Shecontemplated what they'd said for a bit. Yes, he was definitely all those things, but she never got much past his laziness. How could she tell if he was attractive under that mask? Maybe he was horribly disfigured and hid it from everyone.

"Damn. He's got a great ass," the first kunoichi hummed.

Sakura pushed up from where she sat and walked away after that comment was made. It would have been too unlike her to blurt out her concurrence and so the situation called for distance. She smirked as she wandered closer to where he was sitting, straying around the tents to hear the conversation. It had to be better than the one she just had.

* * *

"Hey Kakashi-Senpai, I want to show you something," Hideki smirked as he rummaged around in his pack. Slowly, and drawing out the anticipation that sadly no one else felt, he produced a blue hardcover book with a slashed circle on it. "Do you know what this is?" 

Kakashi stared at it for a moment_. It couldn't be. No. Nooooo..._

"This, my friend, is the special edition, one of a kind, autographed, Icha Icha Paradise volume 69 with twenty-five full colour extra pages."

Kakashi almost passed out.

"I won this from the bookstore in Konoha."

Kakashi recalled the writer's cramp he got filling out those 1096 ballot of which they only allowed him one.

Hideki continued, "I'm not much of a fan, but I recall that you are. How would you like to make a deal?"

The copy-nin eyed him warily and took his time in answering. Finally he asked, "What sort of deal?" Although he had an idea after the one-sided leering and gawking of his travel companion.

"I'll give you the book if you stay in camp tonight. I just want a chance to…get to know Sakura. Just give her some time alone. I don't know about you but I can't resist those long legs." Hideki's eyebrows rose and Kakashi knew it was more than getting to know Sakura that he had on his mind.

"She's a hot commodity. Look at her. I'd like to have a go at her…oh, unless you're with her?" Hideki suddenly looked nervous as he glanced at Kakashi.

The copy-nin was looking at Sakura too. Well, he had to admit that she was beautiful and her legs were…well…attractive. Honestly, he'd have to be dead not to notice. But his description of the kunoichi would certainly be more flattering and respectful. "No. We aren't together."

Hideki's mouth twitched into a smirk that Kakashi suddenly found he wanted to wipe away with the business end of a kunai. Perhaps he should have lied.

The young ANBU held out the blue book and Kakashi stared at it. Could he kill the boy and take it? He supposed that would be a little against his moral fibre and he'd probably get caught.

There was only one option left.

* * *

Sakura stood next to the short bald man who coordinated everything from bedding, to towels, to weapons, to accommodations for all the company at the camp. He was checking his clipboard and humming some tune Sakura couldn't quite place. Inadvertently, she found herself swaying slightly with his little song, beginning to whistle along. 

"Ah, there you are," Kakashi's voice reached her from a few yards away as he sauntered over slowly. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his pack was on his back.

"Hi, Senpai. This nice man was just getting us a couple of tents for the night," Sakura said happily, smiling at Kakashi.

Rubbing the back of his head with his hand, Kakashi waved with the other one. "Ah, that won't be necessary. I think we're going to move along the stream a little farther. I'd prefer it if we got a little closer to our target location tonight."

"Are you sure?" She stared up at him and he smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"All right." Sakura shouldered her heavy pack with no argument and proceeded to follow his slow amble to the far side of the camp to continue their journey. Once again, there was no conversation, but it was tolerable. Today seemed like the sort of day for some quiet, she mused.

Their feet made soft sounds in the sand along the stream, and Sakura listened to the soothing gurgle of the water. Theintrusive sounds of the camp drifted behind them and finally disappeared all together. Kakashi walked next to her, which was a first on the mission and the silence had been comfortable this time. It felt like something had changed...just slightly, but for the better.

When she couldn't hear anything but the regular buzz of nature around them, Sakura slipped her fingers around Kakashi's arm at the elbow to stop him. Just her light touch planted him in one spot but he didn't look down at her; instead he focused on the cool blue of the stream.

"Why didn't you want to stay?" she asked with well-posed curiosity, even though she knew the answer after listening in on the conversation he'd had with Hideki. "I thought you wanted a tent for the night?"

Kakashi turned his head and looked down at her, that happy eye-creaser smile crooked behind his mask. There were so many answers he could give her. There was so much about the conversation between men that he didn't really care for her to know. She was a good person and a good kunoichi, and she deserved better than to be stuck dodging a little bastard like Hideki.Kakashi had too much respect and attachmentto her to let her deal with it if he could prevent it.

"I like it better when it's just the two of us."

Sakura stood for a moment, staring at him. Of all the things he could have used as an excuse to leave, that wasn't one that she expected. It was not a statement of fact, or a directive, or the usual excuses that Kakashi used.

This was not something he would say to Naruto or Sasuke.

He'd said it to _her_. It made her happier than anything had in a while. She wanted to tell him how much it meant to her, but felt that things were nice just left as is. He was Hatake Kakashi. No matter how she replied, he'd understand.

"Yeah. Me too."

* * *

A/N: thanks roark28 for betaing, icarust for boucing ideas, and everyone who reviewed.


	3. Sleep Might Help

Chapter 3 – Sleep

* * *

Staring at the first rays of dawn tickling the tops of the trees and touching the toes of the sleeping jounin beside her, Sakura sighed heavily. Getting up at 3 AM for her turn at sentry had worn her down to a piteous mass of kunoichi. Had she gotten more than two hours of sleep in the last two nights, her brain function might have been a little quicker. As it stood now, she might be able to play shougi against a chimpanzee and perhaps pull off a draw. 

_Come on synapses. You can do it!_

Groggily, she stared at the sleeping man a few feet away and then at a stick that lay near him for stoking the fire. _Stick…poke…awake_…briefly ran through her muddled thoughts, but waking him would only prove that they could both be asleep or awake and nothing would change in the way of discussion or interaction.

Getting tired of envying his ability to sleep anywhere, she pushed herself up and wandered to the dead fire. Only ashes and a struggling puff of smoke remained from the small blaze the night before. She hadn't bothered to stoke or renew it with wood for fear that the night might get even hotter than it already was.

On the upside of everything, Kakashi was lazy. Maybe he'd let them do nothing today and avoid the torture of sweaty clothes and peeling skin. Perhaps a little persuasion was in order, she thought vaguely, although calculation was quite difficult in her perpetually half-aware state.

The indolent copy-nin lay stretched out, no covers, in a sleeveless black shirt complete with attached mask. The curve of his biceps caught her attention and she became curious as to how he kept in such phenomenal shape when he seemed to sit and read all day. _Maybe the book was really damn heavy._

No matter, she decided; he had some really nice definition bordering on sexy. _Hm, give him a personality and he'd be worth hitting on_, she snickered to herself, then cursed that she was beginning to look at him like a man.

Maybe the heat was getting to her. Maybe she was going insane.

He would sense her in a moment or two, if he weren't already lying awake and just ignoring her, and so she decided it might be prudent to get a jump on the day's training. Maybe if she was seen as proactive, they could skip over some of the more mundane tasks like chakra control and just head to the contact point of their mission.

Sitting there ogling at him was doing nothing but put strange thoughts in her head, and she certainly didn't want to get caught staring again…

So what came next? She searched her memory for all the things he'd had them do as genin to train.

_Crap._

_Tree climbing._

With a sigh, she decided to give it the old medic try. She slipped on her sandals, omitting weapons, leg guards, and her headband.

Crossing the stream so as not to wake the slumbering and most likely dirty-dreaming jounin, she picked the biggest tree she could find and drew chakra.

"Alright, tree. You're mine."

* * *

Kakashi chuckled a little and pulled down his mask while squinting up at the first rays of light in the sky. He could feel her staring at him and wondered what she was thinking. The urge to clear his throat flirted with his darker side, but he had decided to reinstate Plan 1 and 2 since sticking his hand up her shirt the day before. 

He'd heard her sigh about six times between watching him and crossing the stream. In some mild way he felt bad for her, being stuck with a scroll and a mission that meant nothing to anyone.

The sound of leaves rustling noisily across the stream caught his attention and he smiled, imagining the twenty-one year old doing something as simple as tree climbing. She was beyond that by far. She'd grown up and he'd basically missed her entire progression. The bell test proved that the day before. She employed every tactic taught to kunoichi throughout those ten minutes, and really, she deserved to win.

But underestimating a man's ability to shove his hand up a woman's shirt – especially a beautiful woman's – was a sad mistake.

Finally deciding that she was far enough away into the trees on the other side of the stream, Kakashi rolled up to a sit and rubbed at his bristly throat. He hummed as he scratched at the silver hairs making his chin itchy. They really did age him, he thought as he rummaged in the small pack beside him for a razor and a small tube of gel shaving cream.

"Chance favors the prepared," he mumbled as he glanced one last time at the trees across the way.

* * *

Drawing chakra for the tenth tree, Sakura felt that unmistakable pull of her foot to the bark. Like a magnet, it drew her to it and then the energy flew through her body, taking the feel of gravity away so she could stay level. Her legs shook this time though. 

Halfway up she stopped and wiped the beaded perspiration from her forehead and sat down on a large branch. Pulling out a kunai, she marked the tree where she stopped, and then scratched a pathetic smiley face with a scar over one eye into the bark below it.

She stared at it.

She forced the kunai through the good eye.

Enough training. He was probably still sleeping and would never know she'd bothered anyway.

Slipping along the branches, Sakura darted from tree to tree easily, trying to be as quiet as she could. There was no reason for it except an inner challenge to see if she could sneak back. All ninja, all the time, she laughed to herself.

When the sound of the stream caught her attention, she stopped in the shade and cover of a particularly dense tree to see if her _sensei_ had awakened. What she saw made her almost slip from the branch.

Crouched by the water, Hatake Kakashi was getting ready to shave. And if she wasn't mistaken, his dark mask dangled forgotten around his throat.

"Well, well," Sakura hummed, "Guess I'm right on time."

Kakashi, seemingly oblivious to her presence, used a cheap disposable razor and made a long stroke along his jaw line. Sakura's eyes followed the slow movement of the blade and silently encouraged it to move a little faster. The copy-nin didn't disappoint her as it stroked over his cheek again.

Letting her gaze travel him liberally, as she felt well hidden in the shade, she began to think about what the women at the camp had said the night before. _It would take some kind of kunoichi to get his attention. _Personally she imagined that his type of kunoichi would have to be wrapped up in orange with a big slashed circle on her and a bookmark in her teeth. The man never seemed interested in anything. How would any kunoichi get his attention?

Another slow stroke of the razor began to reveal the other side of his face.

"That's it. Take it off," Sakura whispered gently, aware that his hearing was above normal. She took in his exposed face, no headband, and began to see what others probably saw. His nose was straight and perfect. His skin was pale, but warm looking.

When he slid the plastic razor under his nose to take off the last bit of shaving cream, Sakura became desperate to see better. Shimmying along the branch a little, she stopped when she felt it dip under her weight. One good look was all she wanted. One good look would give her _one-up_ on Sasuke and Naruto, but also a glimpse of something almost no one had ever seen.

Kakashi wiped over his face with a damp towel, taking off the last little bits of shaving cream.

Sakura inched up the last few feet of the tree branch, her heart thumping against her chest.

But just as she got comfortable for the finale, a nasty crack at the base of the branch reminded her that karma was never her friend. Never. A sick lurch of the branch made her hold on for dear life, and the pause between the crack and the break seemed like an eternity.

The worst realization came then. Her chakra was gone. There was nothing to keep her from falling.

"Daaaamnnn iiiit!" she yelled as she plummeted into the clear blue stream below.

The water tickled her lungs and froze her skin as the current pulled her sideways. It was frigid and not very deep, but the undertow was swift. Her shoulder wrenched against the rocky bottom and she kicked up with her legs to finally propel her above the waterline.

Surfacing, she sputtered and coughed out water, gasping for the air her body was desperate to replenish. After a moment of treading water, she felt oriented enough to swim toward the bank. Tired limbs finally carried her to the knee-deep edge and she hesitated there.

Sheepishly, she glanced up at the copy-nin who was still crouched at the bank, both eyes watching her…and mask back up.

"Damn it," she whispered to no one.

Kakashi eyed her soaked clothing and the water falling in droplets from the ends of her hair. Her lips looked blue, and other parts of her body were reacting to the water temperature as well.

"Isn't that cold?" he asked calmly, forcing his gaze nonchalantly to her face.

Sakura took in a deep breath and fought kicking water at him. Her shivering fingers were clenched at the hem of her shirt and she wedged her arms against her sides. Her knees were shaking and knocking together. _Of course it's damn cold, idiot. My goose bumps have goose bumps_.

"A little."

Her teeth began to chatter.

"Better get out and we'll get moving, unless you wanted to swim some more," Kakashi said while slowly standing up to his full height. They regarded each other for a moment, Sakura fighting anger and Kakashi staring at her blankly.

Finally, he turned around and she watched his back as he strolled toward their bedrolls.

Wading further up and stepping out of the water onto the rocky bank, Sakura closed her eyes and sighed.

Kakashi knew all along she was watching him.

She could hear him chuckling.

* * *

The unmerciful sun had risen again with its usual fervor, and the heat beat on Sakura like a palm slap on her skin. The entire day, not a single cloud had appeared to give her any relief. Her shoulder ached with the earlier fall into the water, and her body was tired. But the worst of it came in the understanding that Kakashi had no intention of training anymore, and that she'd depleted her chakra for nothing. 

She'd have to suffer with the pain until she was recharged.

Like the day before, she wandered slowly along the grassy clearings and root-strewn trails through the Fire country. The entire time, she watched Kakashi reading and navigating the terrain as if he'd done it a million times _– which he probably had_.

The heat was getting to her. The cacophonous sound of the cicadas buzzing their songs was making her want to scream at them to shut up. The sun was going down and the heat hung on like she was chained to it. It was like hell, on fire, on top of a barbeque pit, while wearing charcoal briquettes for clothes. She now understood what meat at the Mongolian barbeque felt like.

She fought the shriek of frustration at the base of her throat.

Kakashi had wandered silently in front of her most of the day. They stopped to cook some rice he had brought, and then moved on. _He must hate me,_ _and this mission_. Barely a whisper had been directed to her without being work related or prompted.

The next few days were going to be torture.

But if the heat was bad, and the silence unnerving, then the sleep deprivation was the icing on the torture cake. Sakura's eyes seemed to droop every three steps and she stumbled here and there.

If Kakashi noticed, he didn't say anything.

Finally, a rather nasty and karma-laden root managed to jump out at her…literally jump (she would claim later) and her foot caught up in it. With a nice twist to end the day, she felt her ankle pop before a lack of balance, finesse, and precious chakra left her face down in the loose dirt and sparse grass. The ground was particularly hard in that one spot; she swore it.

"…ouch," she mumbled flatly into the dirt.

It felt like her leg guard had been caught as well and she tried to assess the damage before even attempting to move.

That was the end of it. Tears blurred her eyes and she just lay there, the tirade and flood of emotion finally forcing against the gates. She hadn't even known she was grumbling out loud when it started, but once it had, she had trouble stopping.

"…sick of it…hot…sticky….dirty…grouchy….tired….damn silence…training like a genin…missing my lab…ridiculous mission…air conditioning…more interested in his damn smutty porn book than me!"

Sakura managed to roll up to sit, finding some hidden strength she was sure had all left her. She breathed in small sobs as she gingerly touched her sore ankle. It was then that she realized Kakashi was crouched right next to her and had heard _everything._

Even though he looked nonchalant with his hands dangling over his knees in that stock lazy way, his face showed a little more attention and concern than it had yet. His headband was up and he watched her with both eyes, which followed the path of one of her tears from her eye to her chin.

"Are you in pain?" he asked calmly.

"No…yes…kind of."

"You have no chakra."

"I was tree climbing this morning. I figured that was the next training so I got a jump on it." Sakura managed to quell her tears for a moment but still couldn't look at him. "I depleted it before I fell in the stream."

"After the bell test, I wasn't planning anymore training. I figured you didn't need it. It's too damn hot anyway."

Sakura laughed a little, feeling foolish and frustrated, and then cried some more.

"How much sleep have you had?"

Sakura raised two fingers. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, feeling like she was on her first mission – and failing miserably. Self-deprecation came on like a tidal wave and she bowed her head.

Shocking her, Kakashi's arm slid around her back, as his other slid under her knees.

"Tell me if it hurts," he said beside her ear as he lifted her from the ground like she weighed nothing. Instinctively, Sakura slid her arm around his neck while the other clamped over the hand he had wrapped around to her side. She stiffened momentarily, but gave in to it, drooping in his hold. The tears had ended, but she sniffed her depression here and there. It felt nice to be carried and her feet felt more relieved than she would ever have imagined. Her whole body finally sank against him.

"Sleep deprivation can make a mission dangerous. You haven't been required to sleep on a bedroll in the forest for a long time. I can see how you've had trouble," Kakashi said quietly.

Sakura nodded as she let her head fall on his shoulder and then move closer to his neck. She actually found some comfort with her cheek on his collar and her forehead touching his throat. Her other hand left his and slipped up over his other shoulder, and she pulled herself tight against him.

"You should have told me the first morning we were out here," he continued.

Sakura nodded gently against his throat, liking how she could feel the vibration of his voice on her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment and slackened in his arms.

Kakashi looked down, a little surprised she was comfortable to just let him take care of her. She was a headstrong girl, well…woman. _She was a woman now_. But after her training with Tsunade, she never wanted to be taken care of. Lack of sleep and the heat must have really gotten to her.

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, suddenly aware that she had nuzzled against his throat and had slid her fingers into the back of his collar. Her nails grazed the fabric, giving him a small shiver down his spine.

"Hm," she hummed sleepily.

Reminded of how utterly long it had been since any woman had touched him, he became exceptionally aware of her heated breath against the fabric of his mask.

"Um...Sakura...could you not…"

"Hm? Not what?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Ah…nothing. Just rest. I'll find a spot to…camp," he breathed out. He looked down at her long legs in his arms and how damn short those shorts actually were. Even the medic skirt wasn't helping.

The ANBU camp discussion came back to him about her figure and he wished he had beaten that young ANBU to death with his blue book…_and then taken it_.

_Little bastard, Hideki!_

Finally finding a small clearing near the stream they had been following, Kakashi gently, but ever so quickly, set Sakura down as she became a little more alert. He wandered around the small ring of trees, gathering dead wood and twigs while finding self-restraint before returning beside her.

"We'll have to see to your foot the old fashioned way," he said quietly as he lit a fire near them for light. "Take off your leg guards and I'll get some cold water from the stream."

Sakura nodded, and slid her hand to the buckles. The first guard came off easily, but the one she believed she wrenched was stuck. The buckle had twisted and she had no chakra for extra strength to twist it back.

Kakashi returned, stripped of his vest and headband, with a wet cloth in his hands. Crouched beside her now, he gently placed the cloth over her ankle, earning a hiss with the light touch. He then slipped his bedroll out of where it was tied to his pack and helped her shift onto it.

"Leg guard?" he said, seeing that she still had one on.

Sakura sighed. "The buckle twisted. I can't get it off."

"I see," Kakashi sighed as well. He was going to have to get near her legs again…_damn it._

Sakura watched him staring at her leg for a moment, his eyes going from ankle to knee and back down. She waited for his gaze to go higher (as most of her male friends' so often did) but he behaved. _Point for Kakashi._

Seeming to make up his mind, he sat on the ground right next to Sakura, his hands slipping under her knee and her ankle. "Let me know if I hurt you."

He considerately eased her leg over his crossed ones and supported her ankle with his thigh. "Ok?"

Sakura was lost for words. Well this position was intimate, but she supposed he knew what he was doing. Kakashi ran his hand over her leg guard, feeling for the buckles as he pulled out a kunai with his other.

"It's…fine," she answered, trying to ignore the fact that his arm rested on her inner thigh as he held her still and worked at the buckle.

"After this, we'll keep your ankle cool until your chakra is replenished. Are you feeling any better? I'll try to be quick so you can get some sleep." He didn't look up as the small taps of his kunai on the buckle became more pronounced.

Sakura could still feel the desire to cry sitting in her chest and eyes and she breathed out a long and wavering breath.

"I…want to talk."

"Pardon?" Kakashi turned back to her.

"Talk. I want to talk. It's been utter silence on this mission and I'm sure you are used to that with solo gigs. But I need some interaction. I need conversation. Would that make you uncomfortable?" Sakura's last question was timid.

Kakashi regarded her for a moment, and then laughed softly. "I apologize. It's a bad habit of mine. Ask me whatever you want and I'll answer."

"No, we'll talk. I don't want question and answer period. I want stimulating adult conversation."

Kakashi laughed again, "All right."

For the first time since falling in the stream, Sakura smiled genuinely. "Okay…ouch…ouch..."

"Sorry."

"It's fine," she said as she tapped her chin in mock consideration. "Okay, what was the name of your first girlfriend?"

Kakashi glanced at her. _Why did women always start with questions like that?_

"I've never had a girlfriend," he said quietly as he continued to work on her leg guard.

"Oh!" Sakura said with understanding. "I'm sorry. Who was your first boyfriend?"

Kakashi glanced at her again. "No boyfriends. I've never had time or inclination to meet anyone or to comply with that sort of ritualistic relationship."

"Ritualistic?"

"Flowers on the first date. Candy on the second. Treating at expensive restaurants and buying gifts that she wouldn't like. Placating misplaced anger due to hormones. It's not something I ever had the patience for."

Sakura stared at Kakashi as he continued to work on the leg guard. "So you've never…"

Kakashi looked back up at her and smirked under his mask, "I said I never had a girlfriend, Sakura. I didn't say I was uptight."

Sakura felt inner heat flood through her face as opposed to the hot air that had made her feel dirty all day. She decided that their first personal chat probably shouldn't involve sex so she changed the subject - but tucked the idea away for another conversation.

"So…you think I don't need training anymore, Kakashi-senpai?"

"No, not really. I suspect that you never needed it in the first place. Anyone can get a lucky hit, especially against someone who doesn't want to hurt you. I've seen you spar. You never use your chakra," he relayed evenly, "And let's drop the senpai now."

"You don't like it?"

"It's not necessary. We're friends, not ranked compatriots. This is an easy mission – a simple exchange. We should think of it as a vacation from real work maybe. There's no need to complicate it." Kakashi flicked the buckle open and slowly slid his fingers along the inside of the boot, feeling for the other buckles and unlatching them. Gently, he opened it up and inched it from her calf.

Every touch of his fingers sent a small current of tingles along her skin.

She shivered. _Woah…_

Sakura said a little softer than she meant to, "Yeah…no need to complicate things."

* * *

A/N: I know there isn't a lot of dialogue in there, but I have them talking now. The next chapter will be a lot of interaction. 

Thanks roark28 as always. Thanks icarust for the bouncing. Thanks reviewers because you are so nice. Next chapter should be out soon. Its almost done.

I've noticed if I edit in the preview window here sometimesthewordsruntogether. sorry if that happens.


	4. Coffee, Tea or Me?

Chapter 4 - Coffee, Tea or Me.

* * *

Intimacy was not one of Kakashi's stronger suits. 'Stunted' might be a better way to describe his social interaction as far as his former team went, so Sakura appreciated that he'd tried to have a conversation with her the night before. He'd made her sleep, saying that he would wake her up for her turn at sentry, only for her to find sunlight peeking over the treetops when she opened her eyes in the morning. 

Stretching a little, Sakura slowly rolled over onto her stomach and smushed her face into the bedroll before realizing it wasn't hers. She'd fallen asleep on Kakashi's after he'd sat her on it to take off her leg guard. It smelled like him. It smelled faintly of the woods, lush grass, and that sweet soapy-type sandalwood scent. She actually liked the smell and breathed it in.

The sudden sound of a splash caught her attention and her head jerked up so she could look out at the stream.

_Good morning to me!_

Kakashi had just stood up by the water, clad only in his jounin pants. Shaking his head, water sprayed much like it would from a shaking dog. The sleek muscles of his back flexed as he slid his arms into his shirt and then lifted it up to pull it over his head.

She stared wide-eyed at his torso slowly being covered by the thin black material. _Nice._

He turned around.

Sakura pressed her face back into the bedroll. _How the hell does he know I am looking?_

* * *

"So, we're meeting our contact today?" Sakura asked happily as they wandered the trails toward a small town on the border. Since her chakra had replenished almost fully, her body was healed, as was her spirit. She was less emotional and better rested, although she couldn't say the same for Kakashi who dragged a little from a sleepless night. 

"No. I sent a message with Pakkun last night while you snored…slept. We'll meet them in the morning. It's not like anyone's life is hanging in the balance or anything," Kakashi responded evenly.

Sakura cocked her head. He seemed more or less…grumpy this morning. She was learning all sorts of things about him now, moods and all.

"Hey, how about I treat us to a real lunch when we get to town? I'm really tired of rice and fish. No offense." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and felt the pink tender skin of her sunburn from the day before. "Preferably a place with air-conditioning."

Kakashi nodded his head a little. "Yeah. I suppose that would be fine."

They trudged on until noon and Sakura was delighted to see that their timing had been perfect as the lines of roofs peeked over the treetops and the ground under their feet became tamer. Kakashi appeared to feel the same way, quickening his pace.

When they reached a small restaurant with painted glass windows and a big sign that said 'Air-Conditioned' on the door, they were sold. Kakashi pushed through first, tinkling the overhead bell, and held the door for Sakura.

They found a comfortable booth below a vent, and Sakura sank back on the red vinyl and sighed. "I'm so happy to sit down somewhere cool. And I'm starving." She picked up the menu slatted between the condiment shakers and her eyes glided over the choices.

"What are you going to have?" she asked Kakashi without lifting her gaze above the salad items.

"Probably miso soup with eggplant, and a cup of coffee," he recited without picking up a menu. Instead, he glanced around the café seeing waitresses in plain blue yukata carrying coffee pots and notepads. There were a few other people in the room, including two elderly women, a middle aged man, and a pair of teenage girls.

Dropping the menu with a slap to the wooden tabletop, Sakura glanced out the window at the meager buildings and dusty, unpaved roads. "Seems like a little out of the way village. Bet nothing really happens here. It looks peaceful."

"Hm," Kakashi agreed as he glanced out between the painted-on letters.

"How are you going to eat with your mask on?" she smirked as she turned back to him, leaning on her elbow, chin in hand. A devilish look curled her lips.

Kakashi rubbed his chin as he regarded her.

Sakura leaned back casually, and then dismissively waved her hand. "You might as well take it off. I've seen your face anyway."

"Ah yes, I forgot about yesterday morning. Well, I might as well…" Kakashi slid two fingers into the fabric and pulled it down to bunch around his throat.

Sakura bolted up awkwardly, almost falling out of the booth, while slamming both hands down on the sticky tabletop for balance. "Idiot! I was kidding!"

Kakashi smiled, and one corner of his mouth rose a little higher than the other. "That's no way to talk to your elders, Sakura."

"I thought you were…only…twen…ty-s…" she trailed off. What she was looking at was a shock, albeit not an unpleasant one. Rumor had it that he was attractive, as many of the Leaf kunoichi would gossip about him, but she had no idea he was like this.

Kakashi's smile was the same kind you'd see from the sincere guy who didn't know how hot he really was, like one of those genuinely sweet guys who charmed kids and made old ladies blush. Kakashi looked like the guy who got the girl in the movies, or the captain of the winning team.

_Simply put…Kakashi is gorgeous. _

His nose was straight and perfect, his lips just right; his smooth skin was unblemished and pale. But that cocky smile was like perfectly sweet syrup on the dumplings; that little extra that made it exceptional.

Sakura was absolutely transfixed. Slowly, she proceeded to sit back down on her side of the booth and lean dreamily on her arm. She couldn't stop staring at him.

Kakashi cleared his throat but she didn't care.

Without warning, a waitress next to the table tripped and dropped the dishes she was carrying with a smash. The noise startled Sakura and she watched Kakashi lean over the side of the table in concern.

"Are you all right?" he said genuinely to the woman as she tugged at her skirt hem and smiled exaggeratedly up at him. When he offered his hand, she grabbed it and slid into the booth beside him.

"Oh, thank you. You're new around here, aren't you? I would have noticed you before," she purred as she leaned over to put her face as close as possible to his.

Kakashi looked at Sakura wearily as he leaned the other way. But her eyes were still glued to his lips.

"Sakura?"

"Hm? What?"

"Hey!" another waitress growled at the side of their booth. "This is _my_ table." She stared at Kakashi as well, while trying to tug the other waitress out by the sleeve.

"No, no, I'll take it for now. You can have mine," the waitress beside Kakashi hummed, not taking her eyes off the copy-nin and ignoring the wrenching pulls of the other.

Kakashi cleared his throat loudly.

The teenage girls giggled and pointed, blushing as well from the countertop on the other side of the room.

"Sakura!" Kakashi rumbled.

Sakura suddenly snapped out of her dreamlike state and practically shouted, "Syrup coated dumplings, please."

Both waitresses froze and looked at her so she added, very sweetly but with force, "and miso with eggplant and a coffee for my _boyfriend_."

They seemed to get the hint and began to distance themselves a little, although reluctantly. Sakura watched them move toward the counter, and then turned her gaze back to Kakashi.

"You knew that would happen, right?" Her pointed finger idly motioned to the entire room with circles.

"I don't enjoy it," he mumbled with a tired lilt to his voice that he'd had since the morning.

Sakura laughed at little. "I can't believe you look like that under there. But I can see why you hide it. Why did you pull it down in front of me?" She became genuinely curious. It had taken her by surprise.

Kakashi shrugged. "You'd already seen it."

She was aware he knew she hadn't completely. And she was aware that she wouldn't get a true answer today.

But she was okay with that. Perhaps he was just comfortable with her, or it was a companionable gesture. It was a vacation from ninja work, he'd said, and maybe he felt detached enough from Konoha to relax.

Whatever the reason, eye candy was always a bonus to Haruno Sakura.

And undoubtedly, he was going to catch her staring a lot more.

"You forgot to order a drink," Kakashi mumbled, feeling like there was some normalcy for a moment. The first waitress returned with a cup of coffee for him, her hands shaking as her smile widened again, but she still made nervous glances at Sakura.

"Hm? What?" Sakura said softly.

Kakashi leaned forward a little with a napkin in his hand. He dabbed the side of her mouth and brought her back to herself.

"What?" she said with a hint of embarrassment as she touched the spot he had just touched.

Kakashi picked up his menu and didn't look at her when he responded, "You had a little drool right there."

"Uh…geez," she groaned exasperatedly and then sat back and crossed her arms. "After all this time, Kakashi..."

He looked back up at her with confusion, taking a sip of his hot drink.

"After all this time, you could have at least let me pull it down."

With a gag, Kakashi choked on his coffee.

* * *

"Uh man, when is this heat going to let up?" Sakura grumbled as she unzipped her shirt almost to her bra line, pulled it open and fanned a menu from the restaurant over it to get a breeze down the front. She stared up at the tree line at the far end of the village. 

"Did you steal that?" Kakashi accusingly pointed at the plastic coated pages in her hand.

"No, I asked. They were all too busy blowing kisses at you and writing their phone numbers on the bill to answer me. I took that as a yes."

"Silence isn't the same as acceptance, Sakura," Kakashi said coolly. She could tell he didn't really care if she had taken a menu or not, but maybe the heat or lack of sleep was making him want to fight. If that were the case, she'd be happy to oblige. The humidity was making her crazy.

She unzipped her shirt a little more and tucked the edges in under her bra straps to expose a good deal of her upper chest. "Ah, better," she exhaled.

Kakashi closed his eyes. _She just has no idea, does she?_

"So, Hatake," Sakura teased while wrapping her hair up with both hands to hold it off her neck, "You sound like you need to burn off some of that bitchiness with a run."

"Burn off…run? Hatake?"

Using a hair-band, Sakura tied her hair up into a messy pink ponytail and then dug around in her pack. She slid out her mission scroll and looked at the enclosed map. "If I'm reading this right…um…we are about eight miles from the exchange point. It looks like there is another little village before there. If we follow the stream, we should get there easily before nightfall. I bet I can make it before you can."

"We don't need to be there until tomorrow," Kakashi relayed as he slid his pack from his back and dropped it on the ground. He unzipped his vest, shrugged it off, and stuffed it into the pack. Next he slipped the black long-sleeved jounin shirt off, just leaving him in the sleeveless black shirt with mask attached - which was now back up.

"I'm just up for a little challenge. Aren't you? And how the hell can you wear all that when it's 180 degrees out here?" Her eyes looked over his arms again and rested on his ANBU tattoo.

Kakashi hefted his pack back onto his back and laughed, "Don't get distracted." Like a shot, he was gone.

"He knew that would throw me off. That bastard."

* * *

The heat wasn't so bad when slipping through the shade of the trees, and Sakura had efficiently caught up with Kakashi. At that point, she questioned if he was really trying or just attempting to break up the monotony by agreeing to the race. 

Sakura leapt over the stream, magnetizing to the branches overhead using chakra. Everything was so much easier with chakra.

Kakashi was moving swiftly along the ground, making exceptional speed, but Sakura managed to get above him. With a flick, she whacked him with the menu and then darted off through the branches.

The smack of the plastic on his headband was very satisfying.

But Hatake Kakashi was not easily swayed from a fight when called on with a restaurant menu flung at his face. Oh no, this was definitely not the end. Now it was war.

Still making good time, he slipped into some high brush and created a clone quicker than any other human would be able to. The clone ran out and Kakashi watched Sakura darting along and keeping an eye on it.

He easily ran up the next tree with chakra and got behind her so swiftly, he surprised himself. She was too busy watching the clone.

Yanking some invisible twine out of his pack, he tied the end to a small shuriken and, in mid-run, managed to stick it to a tree a few meters ahead of Sakura. Once she got close, he pulled hard and enjoyed the show.

Sakura, paying too much attention to the clone, heard the twang of the string as her foot snagged on it. As she flipped over forward, she managed to scream out, "I hate yooooouu!"

But before her back hit the stream, she found herself held above the water. Kakashi had succeeded in dropping to a lower branch, and now held her by her ankle. Teetering and swinging, Sakura looked up at him, panicked. She grabbed the hem of her shirt to stop from giving him a little extra something for his effort.

"Did I say I hate you? I really, really don't. I think you are wonderful. You're the best! The greatest ninja ever…" She looked back down to the cold water, and prayed he had some compassion.

Kakashi held her there for a moment, silently contemplating what would be worse – ruining the scroll, or breaking Plan 1 and 2. But fortune smiled on him as he noticed his clone was still wandering along the water edge. It wandered over to Sakura after he directed it with chakra, and unclipped the buckles to release the pack from her back.

Sakura had no idea what he was doing and figured he was just lightening the load, when she looked back up at Kakashi. His arm muscles were flexed and tight as he held her there with one hand on her ankle.

"Is that better?" she said sweetly.

"Much," he said evenly, and then let go. He laughed as her stunned expression disappeared with a splash into the stream. _To hell with the plan…this is much more fun._

When she surfaced, she could see Kakashi sitting beside the water edge, laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. It was definitely a first. To her recollection, he only other time he laughed like that was when Naruto and Sai woke up wrapped around each other like lovers.

Shaking her head, Sakura waded heavily to the stream's edge, kicking the water at him as she went. Kakashi was composing himself, but chuckling all the same.

Yanking out her hair-band, Sakura shook her head making the water spray all over him, "I'll get you back, you know. When you least expect it…expect it."

They stared at each other and Sakura tried hard not to give up her anger, but really there wasn't any there. They were both tired, she was cool, and the memory of the menu hitting his face managed to unravel her. Dropping to the ground beside him, she laughed until her stomach hurt.

After exhausting themselves with chuckling, they lay around the edge of the water and relaxed in the shade. The silence was comfortable this time, and taking a nap seemed like the perfect idea after the tiring run and cool dip in the stream. As the sun began to go down, goose bumps covered her skin and she sighed, finally content with the temperature.

After at least twenty minutes, Sakura sat up and looked at Kakashi. He lay with his exposed eye closed beside her. She could imagine he was probably taking advantage of a quiet moment to get some rest. Forgoing sleep was hard, and he'd given up his half of the night for her. She'd tell him it was sweet, but he'd just say it was best for the mission. _Whatever…it was sweet_.

They still had another couple of miles to go before the surroundings lost their lush greenery and gave way to the deserts of the Wind Country. Even now she could feel the sand mixed in with the dirt under her fingers. Clumps of grass pulled up easily out of the weak terrain.

They still had another quiet night before the exchange, so maybe they would camp in the spot they were in and move on slowly in the morning. The ninja vacation was turning out to be okay, so she was suddenly in no hurry to move on. The company wasn't so bad either.

Sighing, she looked at her dry pack and was grateful he'd managed to save it before her plunge. There were too many things that would have been ruined had it made the grand entrance into the water with her. The scroll was in there, for one thing.

Rummaging for a pack of gum that she remembered bringing, Sakura reached in but tugged out the brown and black scroll they were to exchange instead. For the first time, she took a good look at it.

"Kakashi?" she said quietly, flicking his leg with her finger.

Kakashi cracked his eye and looked at her with a lazy bloodshot stare.

"Why is there a stamp of a chocolate chip on the end of the scroll?"

He cleared his throat softly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that," she replied coolly.

"You know, it's code or something, Sakura. How am I supposed to know?"

"Chocolate chip code? The hell it is. You suck at lying." She shook her head.

"Some women would find that a good thing," he murmured through his mask.

"Well, that you are lying in the first place is what women would focus on. The fact that your ability is shabby is your own problem."

"Hm, well said."

"Thank you. But we are digressing. What's in this scroll?" Sakura finally found a small bit of perturbation crawling in.

"We aren't allowed to look in the scroll, so how would I know?"

"Geez, I know you know what is in this scroll so cough. It. Up." Her voice was getting lower and Kakashi knew he only had a few minutes before one of them would end up in the stream again, but as if karma was on his side today, a presence intervened.

"Ka…ka…shi?"

"I was just about to tell you, but I think someone is coming. Mission secrecy and all that." _Thank you Fate._

Sakura's finger rose into the _pre_-_irate-rant position_, but she stopped suddenly sensing that someone actually was there. Kakashi was already on his feet, kunai in hand.

"They're moving this way fairly quickly," he hushed out. When his knees bent, Sakura darted up and slid out a kunai as well. "They're trying to be quiet."

"Should we hide and watch for them?" Sakura whispered, taking a small step toward some bushes.

"No, it's nothing I can't handle."

"You mean we, right?"

"We," Kakashi said with no amusement or affectation. Now was not the time for banter.

Finally a ninja from the Sand Country burst through the brush in front of them but stopped about 10 feet away at the side of the stream.

He was huffing hard, and bent double trying to catch his breath. When he looked back up at the pair of Leaf-nin with confused faces, he nodded something to himself. His hand went up in request of a moment to gather himself up.

When he calmed down, he looked at them again. "Green eyes, silver hair," he mumbled and started rummaging in a long pocket on his ripped pant leg.

Immediately, Kakashi was behind him, kunai at his throat. Sakura stayed put, but felt the chakra tingle from Kakashi making her aware he was going to move. Staring at the Sand-nin, she decided she didn't like him. He was angry looking, hairy, dirty, and if she had to peg his disposition, she'd say menacing. His gold eyes were cold.

"Who are you?" Kakashi said quietly, not relinquishing his hold.

"I'm your contact. I have the information. But I have to hurry because I'm being followed. If you don't want to get killed today, you'll take that kunai from my throat, asshole."

"Ah," Kakashi hummed and dropped his kunai to his side. He walked around the nin and past Sakura to lie back down and put his hands behind his head. "You can take care of this, Sakura."

"Oh!" she suddenly realized that the exchange was happening ahead of schedule. Not exactly a bad thing, considering they could head home after. She dug into her pack and pulled out her scroll, eyeing the chocolate chip and feeling a gut wrench of embarrassment that she was actually stooped to menial delivery.

The nin pulled out a black scroll tied with a blue string and raced over to her, shoving it into her hands and jamming the chocolate chip one into his pocket.

Kakashi smirked under his mask_. Isn't he energetic? Wonder what he did wrong to get this gig? Maybe he got knocked out by a two-year-old._

"I think there are at least ten following me. You'd better hurry with that, and protect it with your lives. Make sure you're there by the morning. I wouldn't want to be in your sandals if you're late." His face was angry, his breathing still labored.

Sakura wore a confused look but nodded just to placate him. Kakashi leaned on the grassy bank, comfortably ignoring the warnings.

"Alrighty then. Take care now," Sakura said exaggeratedly, deciding that she no longer required the nin's slimy presence. She waved her hand condescendingly and gave him a lukewarm smile.

The nin's brow creased then he shook his head. "You bastards are all crazy. I'm done with you." With his sweet parting words, he leapt to the tree above Sakura, and gave her a goodbye wave with his middle finger before disappearing.

"Oh!" Sakura scoffed with indignation. "Thatjerk flipped me the bird. I'm gonna kick his slimy ass!"

"It's too hot," Kakashi hummed, stopping her before she started. "Why don't we head to the next town and get dinner."

"But…he said he was being chased! He said we were going to get killed." Sakura put her hands on her hips and waited for a reaction from the lazy nin. "I should at least give him a size 8 sandal print on his ass to remember me by as well. Don't you think there must be something wrong with him?"

"Yeah, bad acting," Kakashi smirked, "This is a minor exchange, and to be honest, if we lost that scroll no one would care. Besides, I'm hungry. The village isn't far. We can set up camp after dinner, and I'll treat this time."

"Oh, that's not like you."

"Well, you know I'm cheap," Kakashi grunted as he pushed himself up to stand.

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, but you aren't easy."

If Kakashi had been drinking anything, Sakura would have been wearing it.

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading. Thanks roark28 and icarust (as usual) and thanks reviewers! 


	5. Flirting, Fights and a Fast Exit

Chapter 5 – Flirting, Fights and a Fast Exit.

* * *

Rain pattered softly on everything creating a calmness in Sakura that she had been missing since they left Konoha days before. They'd spent the night in the forest, but when early morning rumbles of thunder overhead warned of a rainy day, they made for the nearest village. 

It was a quaint village, small, but large enough to have a main street with specialty shops like a bakery and a jewelry store. Sakura managed to purchase a thin white tank top for hot nights, and Kakashi bought a new dog collar for Pakkun. After they tired of their shopping excursion, they sat on a bench outside a novelty store (which Kakashi seemed to take a particular interest in) and watched the rain plopping heavily into the puddles lining the street.

After an hour, Kakashi stood up, took a step forward, and hooked his fingers into the awning above - hanging slightly from it. Sakura put her feet up on the bench where he'd just vacated and sighed loud and exaggeratedly.

"I was hoping we could head back today," Kakashi said quietly against the backdrop of the dim grayness. His voice was almost indiscernible against the sound of the rain.

"Well, we can. We'll just get soaked," Sakura replied with a bored voice.

"Ah, I don't really want to." Kakashi's resignation with the entire situation was clear in his tone.

Sakura smirked. She wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or just voicing what was in his head. Either way, inner Sakura was inclined to agree with inner Kakashi. She'd gotten wet enough over the last few days.

Kakashi turned around and looked at the young kunoichi stretched out across the bench, her head hanging back over the arm rail and her eyes closed. He smiled at her comfort, and how easily they had slipped into a routine together.

"It's getting close to dinner. Do you want to head to the restaurant? Maybe the rain will stop in a couple of hours if we wait," he mumbled.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at him, seeing his gaze resting on her - although not quite her face. _Oh, I've finally caught him …mwahaha! _

She smiled wider as he nonchalantly turned around. "Dinner?" he reiterated.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Kakashi fought to keep a laugh to himself. They had been dancing around flirting the night before at dinner, and he knew he should put a stop to it, but it was amusing. Never in a million years did he imagine the two of them would be in a situation that would make innuendo and suggestion happen. It was fun, and a little tempting, but women complicated things. Kakashi liked his life simple.

Sakura stood up beside him and stretched as she looked at the open-air veranda of the small restaurant across the street. It appeared empty, and a server was just lighting candles on the tables behind the wooden railing.

"That's where I want to sit," she said quietly to herself.

The copy-nin stepped out from under the awning, and darted across the street, Sakura on his heels.

They entered the side entrance of the small rustic restaurant to find it more or less empty. Only two men sat at a short bar, drinking and arguing the way intoxicated friends do. Two servers sat in a booth by the door gossiping, while the third continued to light candles.

Pushing up and hating to leave her conversation, the older of the two waitresses greeted Kakashi and Sakura with a short bow. "Sit anywhere," she grunted, jerking a thumb toward the empty restaurant.

Sakura bee-lined for the veranda table and dropped her bag down, plopping into a wooden chair. Kakashi trudged over and took the seat on the other side, dropping his bag down and unzipping his vest.

The younger of the two waitresses wandered behind them and stood at the edge of the table after placing menus on the shiny tabletop. "Anything to drink?" she asked quietly, unable to raise her voice among the soothing patter of the rain outside.

Sakura glanced up from her menu at Kakashi as he pulled his mask down. She tilted her head. "I think I'll have a glass of wine. Actually, could you bring a bottle of your house white for my _fiancé_ and I?"

"Of c…course," the waitress stammered as she glanced at Kakashi's face.

"Thank you," Sakura half-chuckled. The waitress seemed to come back to herself, and walked away, glancing back once or twice.

"Fiancé?" Kakashi's eyebrow rose.

"Just mixing it up. If I had said _friend_, we'd never get our food, would we? I'd have to pry her off you."

Kakashi smirked and nodded, although the instance at the restaurant the day prior was certainly a protracted version of what women normally behaved like around his naked face. Sakura had certainly gained a skewed version of the regular reaction.

"Did you just order wine?" Kakashi creased his brow realizing a bottle was heading for the table.

"Is that all right? You said this mission was like a vacation."

"Ah, its fine. I just didn't think you were much of a drinker?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't forget who my Shishou was, Kakashi. Every meeting, every discussion, and every break after training consisted of something laced with strong alcohol. She believed that being in control of yourself on a mission when a man plies you with alcohol is a kunoichi's advantage. I'm inclined to agree with that as it happens often in certain situations."

Sakura almost snorted while thinking about how serious Tsunade had been when lecturing on men and alcohol – which was often.

A nugget of wisdom Tsunade had tried to pass on blinked into Sakura's head and she had to share it. "She always said that a woman should have a tolerance for alcohol like she does for men."

"That is sort of contradictory for Tsunade to say, isn't it? She has _no_ tolerance for men."

Sakura hitched with silent laughter. He was right. "Well _I_ do, so I suppose she was just passing on her infinite wisdom to me. She actually mothered me quite a bit."

"That's surprising too. I'm sure a glass or two won't hurt you if your tolerance is up to par."

Sakura grinned a little slyly. "Well, my tolerance for men isn't regularly tested so I'll have to base it all on alcohol. Anyway, I got the bottle so we can share."

Kakashi's smile vanished.

* * *

After a bland dinner, and a glass of wine, Sakura happily watched the waitress come over with an order of _mochi_. Of course, the server put the plate in front of Kakashi who passed it over to Sakura after the woman stumbled off, trying to walk away and watch him at the same time. 

"Want one?" Sakura asked happily as she popped the first small treat in her mouth. She eyed his full glass. "Is something wrong? You haven't touched your wine."

"I'm not…much of a drinker," he understated reluctantly.

"I suppose I can drink alone then," she mock pouted.

Kakashi took in a deep breath and stared at his beverage. The pear coloured liquid looked strong by the way it slid down the glass languidly when he swished it around. He wasn't a drinker by any means. The last time he drank was about six years before and that was at a bachelor party for a friend. The next day, the bride had broken off the engagement after hearing about the festivities.

It had been three days before Kakashi could get out of bed again.

"I guess just one would be fine."

The left corner of Sakura's mouth rose deviously.

The sky darkened and streetlamps came on before they had noticed how late it was. Two large glasses of wine had warmed Kakashi's stomach and relaxed him more than anything had in ages. Sakura was still smiling at him in that way, and he kind of liked it.

She was leaning on the table on her elbows, running her finger around the wineglass rim, smiling widely at him. Her cheeks were flushed with heat from the alcohol and she loved the way Kakashi was looking at her – all lazy and friendly. It was a rare sight.

_Okay, he is slightly intoxicated, but what the hell,_ she thought.

"So, Kakashi, I don't think I told you about the ANBU kunoichi swooning over you back at that ANBU camp. You should have heard them. I feared for your virtue." Sakura laughed and rolled her eyes. "You really do have quite a following."

"My virtue disappeared a long time ago." He spoke into the glass as he took another gulp of his wine. "And I'm sure you have the same problem – not that it's a bad one."

Sakura looked out onto the rainy night and stared at the moth on the streetlight just beside the restaurant. "I don't have that problem, Kakashi. I have chemistry problems, and medical Justus problems, and hospital shift problems. No real social life, no real problem." She shrugged a little. "I'm socially lacking."

Kakashi paused, the drink halfway from the table to his mouth. _Why did women get emotional when they drank?_

"Sorry," she sighed, coming back to herself. "You never did tell me who your first girlfriend was."

"Yes I did. Never had one. What do you mean by socially lacking?"

"You know, I've never had a boyfriend either come to think of it." Her eyes drifted up to the ceiling while thinking back, and then returned to look at her companion. "I just don't have time to meet people. And men don't seem to want to take the time to get to know me. You know, they just want to '_get to know me.' _I need a little more substance in a potential lover."

Kakashi leaned back and slipped off his headband, closing his sharingan and enjoying the freedom. He scratched through his hair quickly and then leaned back on the table giving her his full attention again_. Did she just say lover?_

"You know the type of guy. They say the want a _try_ at me, and they comment on my legs. I have no time for a guy like that. I prefer the guy who'll give that guy a black eye with a sharp elbow." Sakura relayed nonchalantly.

Kakashi looked sideways. _That sounds really familiar._ He rubbed his temples and forced the déjà vu out of his head, bringing himself back to the conversation. "So it's _your_ virtue we should be worrying about? What about the Uchiha?"

Sakura laughed softly, and took a sip of her drink. "No. We…when he got back, things changed with everyone. I found I didn't feel the same way about him, and well, he and Naruto have a bond I wouldn't get between. It's better for us to be friends. I'll always be on the outside looking in with those two."

Kakashi nodded a little in understanding.

"I haven't been on a date in two years actually," she sighed, "Except for tonight, of course"

"What?"

"Well, you are my _boyfriend _or did you prefer_ fiancé?_" she laughed.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Neither is a comfortable fit."

She just closed her eyes and smiled.

Kakashi looked sideways as his mind tried to calculate how long it had been since he'd done anything with a woman. He'd have to say he had her beat by about a year, being three years since his last tryst. Of course, he'd never admit that to anyone – even inebriated.

Sakura raised a finger, getting Kakashi's attention again. "Although, it's only been two days since I had a man's hand up my shirt."

She laughed at the widened eyes revealing a red sharingan. She fell to full belly laughs as he turned a little pinker than he already was.

"I'm sorry," she lied, "I couldn't resist."

Kakashi waved it off, grinning as well. He had to admit that he was feeling more comfortable with her than he had with a woman in a long time. Even with all the innuendo and flirtation, the desire to keep sitting and talking was there.

"So what do you do for fun, Kakashi? We've never really talked and I've never had you all to myself before. What sort of things do you like?" Sakura leaned back in the chair and put her feet up on the railing, bending her knees.

"Why are you asking me so many questions?" he retorted, his eyebrows up.

"Well, I thought this would be a nice chance to get to know each other. If you answer my questions, I'll answer any of yours. Even trade?"

"I'm not a very curious man."

She lowered her head and looked up at him with a sudden lack of patience. "Try."

"Okay, okay," he conceded, his hands up in placation. "Let's see. I like to read, I like to sleep, and I don't like to teach. That's everything."

"I like to dance at the bar with Ino on Saturday nights," she responded. "You?"

"I like to spar with weapons."

Sakura smiled. "So do I…until I'm completely spent."

"I tolerate coffee better than alcohol," Kakashi hiccupped a little.

"That is sort of obvious." She stared at his mouth. "I like dumplings with syrup."

"I enjoy the rain. It helps me sleep."

"The best kiss I ever got was in the rain. I get the urge for another on nights like these," she hummed, and looked at him sideways. If he didn't get that hint, nothing was getting through.

They both looked back out onto the rain-drenched night and the silence was comfortable.

Sakura smiled exaggeratedly and sighed, "I'm having a good time, Kakashi. I never thought that we'd get along so well, but I'm really enjoying this mission…vacation."

Kakashi crossed his feet over the rail and leaned back on the back two legs of his chair, glancing at her. He got her hint; he just didn't know what to do about it.

"Ah."

* * *

Sliding out of the restaurant, and deftly missing a butt pinch by the older waitress, Kakashi sighed as the rain began dampening his hair. They both held their packs by a strap, and Sakura actually dragged hers a little. 

Kakashi turned his face up to the night sky. "Uh, hate getting wet."

"And yet, you have no problem getting other people wet though," she grunted, still smarting with how easily he dropped her into the stream.

Kakashi breathed out a laugh and slid up his mask. Her face was priceless before it disappeared into the water the day before. He tucked that one away in the memory vault to remind her of on a later occasion.

"So Kakashi…want to get a room?"

"Eh?"

"Well, we've been sleeping three feet away from each other for the last few nights, a roof and walls shouldn't make much of a difference. Don't you think?"

The copy-nin scratched his chin and pondered her offer for a moment. She could just want to stay indoors for the time being, instead of having to build a shelter in the forest. Sensible. But then again, the last two hours were peppered with terms like boyfriend, kissing, and lovers. And they'd been drinking. Even though she seemed somewhat sober, he was absolutely not. Three feet didn't seem that far away…and he wasn't sure if he could resist her if she tried something.

"Sure."

Sakura jerked her head up with his fast acceptance. That he might make excuses not to rent a room had crossed her mind, especially after they'd flirted their way through two meal courses and a bottle of wine. But hell, if he was willing to stay dry, she wasn't going to question it.

"All right. I saw a bed and breakfast at the end of the road, and a fleabag on the other side. Where did you want to stay?"

"Fleabag."

"Shit."

"I'm cheap."

"Yeah yeah, but you aren't easy," Sakura drawled, rolling her green eyes.

Kakashi bent his face close to hers, "Depends who you ask." He stood back up and began to walk away until Sakura caught up with him.

"Oh really? Who should I ask? Hm?" she laughed, jogging beside his long stride.

But Kakashi stopped and pondered that. "Uh…I'd have to make a list."

"That's not funny."

"Yeah, it is." He tilted his head and looked at her smiling so warmly at him.

There was trouble in that smile and he wasn't sure if he was up to it at the moment. He took a deep breath. "Um, Sakura, maybe a room isn't a good idea after all."

"Why not? I'll pay if you don't want to."

_That makes it worse_, Kakashi thought to himself. Sakura didn't wait for his answer. Instead she moved in front of him, blocking his path.

"Kakashi, its just a hotel room. We're on a mission, but we can be comfortable, right? You'd rather sleep in a wet forest under dripping tree branches than in a great big soft comfy bed?"

_That makes it a lot worse_, he thought to himself.

"I just don't think we should…" Kakashi trailed off as Sakura took another step closer so that their chests were almost touching. He looked down at her and she looked up. It was obvious what she was doing, and he believed the alcohol was giving her the courage - but maybe not the sense - to think it through.

"…complicate things," he finished.

"Oh," she whispered with a hint of defeat. "The forest it is, then."

For a second, the moment stretched out, and Kakashi swore that he would never drink in the presence of an attractive young woman again. Inhibitions were most likely allergic to wine and she was proving it by making him second-guess his second guess.

But he wouldn't have to take the blame of stopping the problems before they started between them for long, because someone else decided to give them new problems. The swish of air being cut as something approached them preceded a jerk of Sakura's hand.

She stared at the kunai in her fingers, which she'd just snatched from the air. Her eyes opened wide realizing what was happening and the circumstances she'd put them in. Kakashi should have caught it first, but didn't.

He hadn't even moved.

"I'm so sorry I made you drink," she whispered, her body suddenly rigid with alertness.

Kakashi glanced at the kunai, and then murmured, "Stay close."

He hadn't even noticed their presence, but now the enemy nins in the area were on his radar loud and clear. Chakra signatures gave them away nearby. Two were on the rooftops, and three were in the alley.

"Do you sense them?" Kakashi asked quietly as he and Sakura shifted away from each other.

"I get five."

Another kunai slipped through the air and hit the ground between them. Turning both their heads toward it, they glanced at each other and then leapt away as the fire spell attached to it burst onto a splintered fireball.

Sakura was thrown off balance and fell hard onto the dusty gravel. Two nin's were on her immediately. Pulling up the kunai she'd caught a moment ago, she fended off one's kunai attack, backing up as the other tried to get behind her.

When her back bumped a wall, she'd run out of room and so drawing chakra, she decided to make a path right through the nin in front of her. But when she bent to force her chakra into the ground, the second nin rained a blow on her side, setting her off balance and making her drop the kunai. The brunt of her powerful chakra blow went askew, taking down a nearby stone monument of some sort.

A foot slammed down on her hand and so she kicked hard with her foot, landing a short hit to one nin's leg. It buckled him slightly, but the other was there, tugging her to stand with a twist of his hand in her hair.

"Ow!" she growled out as he pushed her against the wall. Drawing chakra again, Sakura tried to throw another hit on the nins but they grabbed her wrists and forced them to the wall. She managed to get a look at them, and the light glinted off two stone hitae-ates.

"Stone?" she hissed in disbelief.

"Sakura!" She heard Kakashi's voice, but could hear the clash of metal on the other side of the road and down a ways. He couldn't help her; she had to help herself.

Drawing chakra to her feet, she managed to actually stick her foot to the stomach of the nin on her right, and used the leverage to knock the other one down with a chakra-laden stomp to his chest.

With her free hand, she punched out nin number two, sending him rolling and sprawling into the grass at least thirty feet away. But nin one was a persistent bugger and he came at her again; this time he had what looked like talons made of chakra on his hand.

Sakura crouched, and when he neared, she fell into a tai-jutsu fight with him. As if things couldn't get worse, a kunai hit her thigh, just nicking it, but deep enough to make her wince. And in the process of trying to spin to avoid it, her adversary had raked his claws down her back.

She didn't know if the ripping sound was her shirt or her skin. The immediate wetness on her back alarmed her, because it hadn't hurt.

Again she brought her hands up, this time with a kunai in each. Her body began to ache slowly and her breathing got a little shallower. She was definitely injured.

"Kakashi!" she called out, in fear for him or herself, she wasn't sure.

And like the famous copy nin always did, he came. She had looked up to see senbon flying toward her from her last standing enemy. Lifting her arms to block the barrage of weapons, she opened her eyes to instead see a green vest - one pocket unsnapped.

"Did he hit you?" she said hurriedly.

Kakashi turned swiftly and lunged at the nin Sakura had been fighting as he pulled out more senbon. She hadn't seen what her teammate did as his back was to her, but Sakura was fairly sure it was the sharingan that had finished the fight.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to assess the damage to her back. The strips of shirt were wet, and the pain was beginning to come with the dying away of adrenaline. Did Kakashi know she was hurt? Had he seen?

"We have to get out of here," he grunted as he looked around for his pack and darted over to pick it up. Sakura could see three nins on the other side of the road, unmoving.

She shuffled backward so that he couldn't see her back in the light of the lamps, and then slipped on her own pack, which she had flung away when the fight started.

He hurried back to her and grasped her arm. "I have no idea what happened there, but we need to find a safe place. This village won't do."

"There is another further back into the Fire country. I think we're close," Sakura said quietly, trying to keep from showing her anguish of having a heavy pack on her pained and bleeding back.

"All right. We'll find an Inn and hole up there until morning."

Sakura nodded and moved when he did, even though his hand had slipped from her arm.

They ran the Fire Country forest for twenty minutes until they found a larger town along the stream - closer to where they had originally come for the exchange. A shabby Inn, but nicer than a fleabag, flashed a 'vacancy' sign in the window and Kakashi nodded his head at it.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

Sakura had already started stomping toward it. "Yes."

Kakashi shook the disbelief at her easy acceptance out of his head and followed her into the dingy and dimly lit office. It was a dive. A gruff looking man with patchy five-o'clock shadow loomed over the formica counter.

"A room, please," Sakura said quietly.

"I'll take care of it," Kakashi added as he slid his pack from his back and dug a hand in it.

"I'll get mine," Sakura said without turning to him. Instead she looked at the grubby hotel manager and said, "My _dad_ would like a room as well."

Kakashi's mouth fell open under the mask. He thought fiancé was bad.

A second key was slapped down on the counter next to the first and Sakura snatched one up, not waiting for the copy-nin. She moved at a slightly hurried pace down the dark hallway toward the room and her door. Using the key, she found the lock sticking. Jiggling it and hitting the door here and there just wasn't working.

The sound of steps in the hallway made her pulse quicken as she tried to hurry into the room. The lock finally gave up the fight and Sakura opened the door and breezed in, glancing at Kakashi approaching as she closed it.

Kakashi found his room across from Sakura's, but leaned against the wall next to it, staring at her door. _What the hell just happened tonight?_

The dinner, the flirting, the offer of a room - innocent or not - the fight, and now her almost belligerent attempt to get away from him was too much. They had to talk and figure out what prompted those nins to jump them. They had to discuss their plan with returning to Konoha or tracking the nins in the morning. Something was very wrong. Sakura seemed to be acting like her twelve-year old self by rushing away without explanation.

That just wouldn't do.

He dropped his gaze and something on the floor caught his attention.

_Oh…I see._

_Damn alcohol,_ he berated himself, _I should have been able to smell that_. He shook his head as he looked at the small pool of blood on the hallway floor.

* * *

A/N: It was a little transitionary, but now it will get into the plot a little. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to icarust for bouncing ideas and keeping me on the right track. 

Forgot to mention that there are new fanart links on my profile done by some wonderful artists. I can't thank them enough.


	6. Chakra, Pecans and a Loud Carpet

Chapter 6 – Chakra, Pecans and A Loud Carpet.

* * *

_Cakewalk? Vacation?_ Wasn't that what the mission had been termed from the oh-so-very attractive and well-formed lips of Hatake Kakashi? Sakura thought angrily. 

Hissing and grumbling a string of expletives that would make even Tsunade blush, she slid her pack from her back and let it drop with a bounce on the bed. Blood marred the back and still looked quite wet and thick. Sakura supposed it was the wrench of hitting the ground after darting through the trees that might have worsened the wound. Only now did she feel it really pained and making her a little weak.

Stripping quickly, she tossed her torn shirt on the bed and mouthed a silent thank you to the god of undergarments because her bra had come through with just a tear or two. She then stripped that off as well.

When she opened her pack, she was happy to see that almost nothing had been bloodied because of the thick canvas backing. Small consolation, she thought wearily. Even still, blood had soaked the lower edging and Sakura was sure she probably dripped some here and there (not that the ugly blue carpet could look any worse).

She pulled the white tank top she bought in the last town out of the plastic bag and slipped it over her head. Next, she threaded the only towel in the bathroom under the back of it and pulled it up over her shoulder. At least that way she could quell the bleeding enough to work on it with her chakra. It was almost stopped now anyway.

"Damn fleabag hotel," she mumbled, deciding to call down and demand more towels. She stared at the phone, but her thoughts kept her from picking up the handset for the moment.

Back injuries were such a problem for self-healing as it was hard to reach all areas. Tonight, she would just have to drench her back with chakra and hope for the best. It would have to be good enough for whatever they had to do tomorrow.

As the adrenaline died away and Sakura's muscled loosened from the clench of fear, fighting, and excitement, she dropped down to sit on the bed. Questions began to run through her mind.

_Who were those nins?_

_Why did they attack?_

_Had Kakashi gotten injured in the senbon attack?_

Angry instead of upset for a change, Sakura picked up the handset and hit the "0" as hard as possible without breaking the phone.

* * *

Kakashi dumped his belongings in the room he was given and admired (or rather scrutinized) the dingy look of the pine-paneled walls and orange carpet. The double bed looked well worn in as it dipped in the middle, and the florescent bathroom light flickered a little. The paisley purple comforter did nothing for the décor. 

"Fleabag," he mumbled as he pulled jutsu papers from his pack and secured the windows. Even though bodily occupied, his mind worked on trying to decide his next course of action.

It didn't take long.

He'd give Sakura ten minutes before he knocked. There was just no way an injured teammate could be left to her own devices without being checked on. A pool of blood, small as it was, was still blood. She was stubborn - of this he had no doubt.

Just as Kakashi began securing the doorway with a jutsu, he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Heavy thuds gave away that the person approaching was no chambermaid.

The copy-nin peeked through the keyhole to see the large clerk who had checked them in sliding up to Sakura's doorway. The grease-spotted, and indelicate man lumbered along, not exactly creeping - but creepy nonetheless.

His large beefy hand lifted a key to the doorknob of Sakura's room, and that was enough for Kakashi.

Suddenly sensing something there, the large man turned his head to see a pair of mismatched eyes creased angrily over the black mask he'd seen earlier. The sight of the perturbed wrinkle between Kakashi's eyes froze him in his tracks. The chill of cold steel touched his throat as his adam's apple bobbed with a gulp against the sharp edge of a kunai.

"What do you think you are doing going into my…uh…um…" g_irlfriend's?…fiancé's?_ "…daughter's room." Kakashi managed not to roll his eyes as it might have thrown off the intimidation effect.

"Ah…daughter…riiiigght," the clerk drawled as he held up two white towels so that Kakashi could see them. "She requested them, and asked that I put them on the bed inside."

Feeling slightly embarrassed for having accosted a towel delivery boy, Kakashi cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and held out his hand. As the night manager unceremoniously dropped the towels on it, Kakashi mumbled, "Open the door before you go."

"Oh, going to surprise your…daughter?" the man snickered, the sarcasm disgustingly blatant. Kakashi felt like he needed to be deloused.

"She'll be more surprised when your head rolls through the door first."

The man snapped his fingers and pointed at Kakashi, "Ah yeah, gotcha."

With a silent turn of the key, the door unlocked and the night manager strolled away chuckling but rubbing his throat thankfully. Kakashi watched him go and then took a deep breath before softly pushing the door open. Surprising Sakura probably wasn't a good idea (jounin-coloured mashed potatoes) but he reasoned that she likely wouldn't have opened the door otherwise. Stubborn, but not stupid.

Silently stepping inside, Kakashi took in her room and made note that her accommodations were quite a bit worse for wear than his, although her carpet was a decent blue. Blue equaled peace to the copy-nin, and for some reason orange equated with noisy. He'd try to examine that train of thought later.

At this point, Sakura was not among the gaudy colour scheme. The water was running full force in the bathroom, and so he waited.

But before he could begin making preparations for how to broach any subjects, the bathroom door flung open and Sakura swept out. It was obvious that she thought he was the night manager, because she waved a hand dismissively without looking up and spouted, "Just put them on the bed." She turned her back to Kakashi as she dug in her pack. Her pink ponytail bounced as she jostled her belongings.

Kakashi dropped the towels, and then focused on the one that was tucked under her tank top from her shoulder to her hip. Blood had seeped into it a little with what looked like three long cuts down the length of her back.

She had a worse injury than he'd predicted.

He didn't know what to say. He just stared at her.

Sakura's movement suddenly stopped and her head lowered slowly. She was aware he was there now – a little too slow by his estimation. With a quick turn of her head, she made sure it was Kakashi, and then looked back down at her pack.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked quietly.

He didn't answer.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura turned slowly and looked up to see his creased brow, both eyes locked on her.

"How did you get in?" she added.

Kakashi shook his head just a little as if he was disagreeing with something he was thinking.

"I'm sorry…" Sakura whispered as she finally looked away. That stare could knock the wind out of her since she was twelve. Sadly, she felt like she was right back at her first day as a genin, and he was disappointed in having her on his team all over again.

"What are you sorry for?" Kakashi responded evenly as he finally took a step toward her.

"If I hadn't ordered the alcohol, maybe we would have come out of this better. I put us in danger. This is a mission. I broke the rules."

Kakashi finally stood in front of her and turned her around so he could see her back. "You should have told me."

Sakura nodded a little, feeling her stomach tighten.

"I can take care of this myself." Sakura attempted subtle recovery, but nothing was going to make her feel much better or him less intimidating.

"I came to say that I think we should sleep together," Kakashi said as he moved the towel to see the damage.

Sakura closed her eyes. She would have loved to play with what that sentence could have started. Too bad the situation was the way it turned out. She supposed their flirting was over and they were back to their teacher student roles once again.

Kakashi's warm hands grasped her upper arms as he turned her back around to face him. "What? No innuendo? I practically gave you that one."

"Sorry," she said again without looking up at him. "I guess I knew what you meant, and I agree. The same room would be safer if we're being chased, and it wasn't a random attack."

Kakashi sighed quite audibly and let her go. "Get your stuff and I'll wait for you. I've already secured my room. Although I should warn you, its got an orange carpet."

Sakura nodded as she leaned over to pick up her half open rucksack. "For some reason, orange is such a loud colour to me."

* * *

"Honestly, Kakashi, I can heal my own wound. Its not that bad," Sakura begged quietly as Kakashi picked around in his pack for medical supplies (of which he had almost none). 

"I'll just clean it, and then you can jutsu it. You know the drill. Healing closes it, but we have to make sure nothing gets closed in there. I think I'm still the senior on this mission, so it's my call."

"Fine," she huffed and sat down on the bed. She then lay back and crossed her legs. Silence filled the room for a few moments until she spoke again. "So? Tell me how you'd like me," she said sweetly, but still retaining some remnant of sarcasm.

_Don't bite on that, Kakashi_, he warned himself as he turned away from her now stretched out form across the bed. "Just…sit on the end and I'll sit behind you."

"Fine," she spat out again, pushing up to sit. Sarcasm - all back.

The bed bounced as Kakashi sat behind his injured teammate, and held out the medicinal cleanser for her wound. Sakura could hear him mumbling behind her and she whipped around to see what he was doing.

Kakashi's eyes rose from the bottle to Sakura's one cocked eyebrow. "Instructions," he said nonchalantly.

"Just wipe the wound with a clean towel and some antiseptic. I'll heal it when you're done." She turned back around, extracted the bloodied towel, slipped the tank top up, and pulled the back of it over her head so that her wound was fully exposed. Kakashi's eyes widened, taking in the smooth skin over tight muscles. He focused particularly on the tiny tan line of which he was sure was a string bikini.

I shouldn't be looking at my daughter like this…thank goodness she kept her front covered. 

Sakura hissed as the first sting met her skin in the form of the cold towel dabbed with antiseptic.

"Sorry," Kakashi mumbled.

"It's ok. It just stings like hell." Sakura breathed out when he stopped. She just hoped her eyes weren't watering. "Hey, don't you think you should take off your mask?" she said with a half glance behind her.

Kakashi hm'd realizing he still had it up. He tugged on the fabric at his chin and pulled it to dangle underneath. "I get so used to wearing it. Although it wouldn't really matter if I kept it on, would it?"

"Well," Sakura's tone changed slightly. "It might make this a little less painful."

Kakashi smirked. She seemed to be feeling better.

"Here," Kakashi smirked as he held his Icha Icha paradise book out over her shoulder. "It'll take your mind off the pain."

"Oh? You'd let me read it? I didn't think any other hands but yours were allowed to touch that?" Sakura smiled. "That is really nice of you, Kakashi, but actually…" She leaned forward and pulled a blue hardcover book with a big orange slashed circle on the cover from her pack resting beside the bed. She held the special edition up. "…I've got my own, thanks."

Silence.

Sakura turned her head to make sure Kakashi didn't pass out, but when she looked at him, he didn't look happy.

His brow creased. "Where'd you get that?"

"I traded it from a young man by the name of Hideki at that ANBU camp. He offered it to me in exchange for something he wanted. He said he had a prospective buyer but it ended up that he wouldn't pay for it, so I decided that I would."

"I wish you hadn't done that."

"Why not?" Sakura was suddenly aware of what he thought she might have paid for it, and his indignation…or perhaps protectiveness, was touching and very welcome. She could see in his face that Kakashi thought something might have happened between she and Hideki.

Kakashi crossed his arms, but didn't respond.

She couldn't help the wide smile.

"Don't worry, Kakashi. The price was a quick heal on his black eyes, and the broken nose he had been given a little earlier by a sharp elbow. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Sakura laughed as she opened the book up and set it on her crossed legs.

Kakashi cleared his throat slightly, looking suddenly very innocent. "Uh…No…Hikedi, did you say?"

"Riiiight. Well, anyway, it turns out that he was fishing to get me alone and someone elbowed him in the face after he made an offer of a dirty trade. Seems it was my virtue for this book," Sakura said warmly, "I guess I owe that man a kiss for what he did for me."

Kakashi didn't respond, but Sakura found the silence comfortable as the next cool touch of the cloth made her grit her teeth. She imagined Kakashi was smiling in that movie star lopsided way, and it made the pain a little easier to take.

Flipping past the authors note in the front of the blue book, Sakura rolled her eyes at the long list of women who were thanked for inspiring Jairaya. _Pervert_, her inner self growled. The first few pages were slightly interesting, and so as Kakashi continued to clean her wound, she read on. It was only eight pages in when the first couple lost their clothes.

One page in particular caught her attention.

"Sakura? Your neck is turning red."

"Is it?" Sakura fanned herself with her hand. "It's a little bit hot in here, don't you think? Too bad the windows are locked with jutsu papers." She laughed nervously. "Are you hot? You know, I mean…temperature…wise…"

"Not really," Kakashi said matter-of-factly. "Although it might help you if you turned the page. You've been staring at that one for five minutes."

"Oh…ha…have I? Uh…" _Oh god, I have_.

"Don't worry. The entire book isn't completely that…graphic."

"It's not that…I mean it _is_ that but…well…do men…like doing that…to…to women? I mean…using...mouth...uh...tongue...to..."

"To what?" Kakashi found it immensely amusing to push her buttons all of a sudden, and he was finding her embarrassment sort of charming.

"You know…um…" Sakura held up the book a little without turning around.

"Ohhhh," Kakashi feigned enlightenment. "So you've never…?"

Sakura sighed out a large uncomfortable breath and fought the urge to crawl under the bed. "Well…I've done…_things_. But maybe not this. I mean…this hasn't been done to…m…" Sakura wiped the sweat from her upper lip. "Okay, I'm not talking to you about this."

Kakashi was chuckling, and Sakura could feel the heat burning her face like a fire.

"Sorry, Sakura. Most men like that. Most women love that. As you get older…"

"I am older," Sakura cut in. "I'm just….busy. Medical science is very time consuming. I just don't have the extra…time to… Oh, forget it."

Kakashi smiled and then leaned forward, putting his hands on her waist. He blew a cool breath on her back to dry the antiseptic, and honestly, to tease her a little. When the goose bumps rose on her skin and her shoulders stiffened, he felt he'd accomplished his personal mission. "Okay, jutsu away."

Sakura shut her book with a snap and held it over her shoulder. In a strangled voice, she whispered, "Please don't do that again without warning me."

With a rich smirk, Kakashi reached over her shoulder for the book. He watched her cross her arms over her front and hold her fingertips over her shoulders.

In a display rarely seen, Sakura drenched her back with light blue chakra.

Watching with utmost interest and a little bit of curiosity, Kakashi marveled at the scene of her skin being perfected again with her own energies. It was like watching water eroding away at her wounds. He'd completely forgotten about the special edition icha icha paradise in his hands.

When Sakura finished healing herself, Kakashi finally came back to himself and opened the book to leaf through the pages. "So you're going to let me borrow it?"

Flipping her shirt over her almost completely healed back, Sakura then turned around, smiling. Kakashi's eyes lifted to hers, and Sakura could see the hint of amusement in them. The way he had taken care of her, defended her honor, and been a generally pleasant companion over the last few days was endearing him to her. They were connecting and she was happy about it.

Without putting much thought into it, and in a move that was slow and earnest, she leaned close to Kakashi. The copy-nin seemed to freeze for a second, and Sakura almost laughed to find a weakness in him besides alcohol. His eyes followed her movements.

Very gently, Sakura touched her lips to his cheek. "That's for the elbow to the nose."

She eased away to slide off the bed, pointing the book. "And that's for taking care of me, even when I didn't want you to. It's yours."

Grabbing her pack, she wandered over to a small pressboard table near the door. She chanced a glance up at his dumbstruck look. "Be careful. With eyes that wide, I'm worried you'll set the sharingan on me."

Kakashi shook his head slightly, and then cleared his throat. "So, I guess we should figure out why we were attacked."

"Think they want the scroll?" Sakura responded, inwardly amused at the quick change of subject.

"What would they do with a cookie recipe?" Kakashi snickered as he lay back. "That can't be it."

"Excuse me?" Sakura growled. "Did you just say cookie recipe?"

'_Shit,_' Kakashi mouthed as he jolted back up to sit.

"You _must_._ Be_. _Joking!_ Tsunade sent me out here to deliver a cookie recipe? I'm going to kill her."

Sakura paced the room angrily, arms crossed. Kakashi watched her go from wall to wall three times, but then suddenly stop. Her head turned mechanically to him.

"But first I'm going to kill you!"

"Wait, wait, Sakura." Kakashi placated with hands up. "You knew that she just sent you out for training. Don't get carried away."

Sakura stomped to the bed, yanked a pillow from under the worn comforter, and hit Kakashi on the back of the head with it. "Why didn't you tell me? I asked about the damn chocolate chip. You could have told me then." She began a pillow onslaught the likes of which no kunoichi slumber party had ever seen until a hand grabbed hers hard.

Kakashi pulled her to the bed and clamped his hands on her wrists to hold her down.Without thinking, he rolled on top of her to hold her still. "I was told not to. I have to follow my orders too, you know." He stared down at her, and suddenly realized that he was straddling her on the bed.

Sakura looked away from him. "Glad to know my sanity is worth less than chocolate chip cookies."

Kakashi released his grip and rolled off to sit on the bedside. He mumbled softly, "Actually, I think it was chocolate caramel oatmeal cluster bars. But I could be wrong."

Sakura slapped her hand over her eyes. "Well that makes it much better."

"But this still doesn't answer why the nins attacked. I wonder if we got the wrong scroll. That Sand-nin didn't look like the cookie delivery type." Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well that would just be stupid to get the wrong scroll," Sakura shook her head, and then walked over to her pack to get it. Sliding the black scroll from the canvas sack, she turned it over in her fingers and creased her brow. "Do you think we should look at it?"

Kakashi stared at it for a moment and then held his hand out. "Let's check for traps first."

Sakura tossed the scroll to him, and he examined it with the sharingan for a moment, closing his normal eye. "Looks clean."

Timidly, Sakura wandered closer and sat on the bed beside Kakashi as he gingerly undid the red tie around the black scroll. With a rustle of parchment, he slid it open as two pairs of eyes scanned it carefully.

"Damn it all. It's a battle plan. Looks like someone is going to invade the hidden village of Sand," Kakashi whispered.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, feeling extremely worn out. "I don't think I told you that I noticed a Stone headband on one of the nins. Have we stumbled into a war?"

The copy nin closed his eyes. "I think we've stumbled into the precursor to war, and have gotten stuck in it. We'll need to decide what to do."

"Flip a coin? Heads we take the scroll to Konoha, tales we take it to Sand?" Sakura yawned uncontrollably. The chakra use, fighting, alcohol, and general excitement were wearing on her. She leaned forward and rubbed her eyes before looking wearily up at Kakashi.

"Something like that." She looked as worn out as he felt. Their current circumstances had just flip-flopped to something far worse than his normal S-class missions. What the hell had happened? It was a bland, easy training mission that was supposed to be more like a rest.

"I think we should take it to Sand. If they start war soon, wouldn't it be better to warn the Kazekage?" Sakura leaned a little on Kakashi, her head finding a spot on his shoulder. Her weight fell against him.

Kakashi thought on it for a moment, and said quietly, "Unfortunately, I agree. I guess we'll start for Sand in the morning."

"Don't sound so worried. How bad could it be?" Sakura mumbled sleepily as she finally lay down on the bed. " If we travel carefully, we could have it there in a day or two, right?"

"True," Kakashi agreed with a breath of a laugh. Inwardly, he was fretting about how mad the enemy would be once they discovered their scroll missing. Maybe the pecan cluster recipe would placate them a little.

He rubbed his temples until they were sore.

* * *

A/N: well, this is unbeta'd. Sorry for any mistakes and the long delay in updating. I'm sure I'll have another chapter out soon as it's a part I've been waiting to write. And don't forget to not take this seriously. More crack cometh. 


	7. Of Spooning and Soapsuds

Chapter 7

Of spoons and soapsuds.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi: Superb Jounin elite of Konoha, and famous copy-nin, silver hair, one dark gray eye, one sharingan, master of a thousand jutsu and…loud, obnoxious snorer.

Sakura took a deep breath as another gutteral rumble of sound made her eyes roll. Ok, he was probably extremely tired after fighting, and drinking, and having to actually talk about himself, but still, Sakura felt that a buzz saw in the room would be a little kinder to her ears.

In hindsight, maybe sharing a hotel room wasn't a fantastic idea, she mused as another snorted sound cut the blessed silence like a chainsaw through butter. There came a slight reprieve; a second of silence ensued as she waited for the next groaning sound.

Well, maybe it wasn't _all _bad...

She supposed if his mouth weren't right beside her ear, it wouldn't be as loud. But to have his mouth gone would mean that the warm strong arm holding her tightly against a bare chest would be gone too.

Really, Sakura had to give him credit. He'd proven his elite abilities again with a stealthy crawl into the bed, and an even stealthier spooning ability. Had she not found him so attractive or been opposed to being so close to him, she believed she might have termed it "the spoon clamp of death." For now, she'd call it warmth and comfort with a little side dish of annoyance. Waking up like that was not a bad thing in her opinion – although much of that thought was dependent upon said clamper.

Kakashi had actually dug his fingers underneath her side to tightly pin her in position. When Sakura was young, she remembered riding a carnival ride where a seat belt was drawn over her waist similar to Kakashi's tight hug. Try as she might, she couldn't extricate herself from the teacups of doom at the summer festival, even with the advanced ninja abilities of her three young years.

But equating a warm, attractive man to a seatbelt in a barf-inducing whirling dervish was ridiculous. She'd wanted to get out of the rotating nightmare; Kakashi's hold was a different animal all together.

Another snore, and a moment of desire to wriggle free came and went. Then silence, and bliss.

Laughing to herself a little, Sakura decided to do some experimenting so she jostled slightly. To her surprise, Kakashi's strong arm tightened and his right leg crossed over hers, adding to the grapple she found herself entangled in.

"Kakashi?" she whispered, barely putting any voice into it at all.

Of course there was no reply. It seemed that the infamous shinobi lost all ninja ability when locked inside a secured hotel room.

Sakura always imagined that Kakashi was on alert all the time. During missions, especially overnight, if there was a noise, Kakashi was the first one up and alert. So why was he comfortable enough to be dead to the world, yet touchy feely at the same time in a fleabag? All the time she observed him in his sleeping bag in the forest, the man barely moved.

_Keep going_, inner Sakura hummed softly.

Another wiggle and a slight bounce of the bed produced much better results when Kakashi breathed in deeply as if waking, and then bounced the bed himself as he tugged Sakura onto her back, withdrawing his fingers at the same time. It was much better, but his leg…

Kakashi's leg had now slid into the space between Sakura's and pulled them open slightly. The greatest shock came when his currently free left hand (formerly of clamp of doom fame) came to rest on her upper thigh.

_Hell yeah_, inner Sakura lit happily.

Sakura turned her head, finally able to see Kakashi as he slept beside her. His chin rested on her shoulder and the snores (thankfully) had ended. His lazy eyes were shut, and he looked so different – vulnerable. Sakura looked at his slightly parted mouth, breathing out softly. Stray hair fell over his left eye and she wondered if he would be comfortable with knowing she was just watching him sleep.

But as Sakura's mind turned, a slow flex of Kakashi's fingers on her skin made her grit her teeth in anticipation of what he'd do next.

_Great,_ she thought, _hits on me when he's unconscious._

Sadly, inner Sakura seemed to have no moral objections at all.

For a few moments, all movement stopped and she continued to lie there looking at him. In all the time she'd wondered what he looked like under that mask, never had she imagined he would be _her type_. Handsome wasn't everything, as Sasuke had proved many times over, and Kakashi had that something she couldn't seem to dismiss.

He looked calm when sleeping (not that he wasn't chronically tranquil) but she liked the look of him resting. For a moment, it almost felt like they could be lovers, waking from a long night together. The idea was almost wishful; she could feel the urge to stay that way.

"Shit," she breathed out in realization. She was falling for him. It wasn't just a crush anymore; it had turned to want and imagining things between them besides the physical. They'd just spent several days together, getting to know each other, understanding each other. It was like they had been reacquainting or perhaps reworking their dynamic and now it was going to be something for Sakura that Kakashi might not have planned…or ever wanted.

The medic was suddenly ruffled. He was under her skin. A perfect moment was just lying there with them between his warm body and her happiness at having him there, but he wouldn't think that way, would he?

He didn't like complicated things…

But the fear and anxiety of how to change their playful, flirtatious and often exasperating relationship was gone as his fingers pressed into her leg and then slid down to push between her thighs. He was still a bit below the bulls-eye, but Sakura was already feeling a reaction to his contact.

Her body was warming, heat and tingles running up along her neck and spine. Kakashi's hand slid up a little more between her legs and she sighed softly, the little hitch below her belly button becoming more pronounced.

Would it be bad to take advantage of a sleeping man? Wait! A sleeping man is taking advantage of me!

"Ka…Kakashi…" she whispered, putting a little more force into her voice.

Kakashi shifted, running his hand right up her body and laying it heavily below her breast.

Sakura couldn't help the small noise of shock and secret enjoyment as his fingers strode up places she didn't think he'd touch consciously before resting in such an intimate place.

Sleepy eyes squeezed tight and then with raised eyebrows, Kakashi forced his right lid up. Bloodshot red surrounded the dark gray eye that scanned Sakura, taking stock of their position and showing no immediate reaction.

_Good for him_, she thought to herself.

Even for a genius like Kakashi, there had been mild embarrassments. No one could ever live a life without a single moment like that. Gai had provided many embarrassing moments so dealing with some manner of shame was something Kakashi had been intimately acquainted with from time to time.

But this moment was different. If he moved his hand in any way other than off, he felt he might actually not survive the next few minutes – be it dying of embarrassment or a hard punch through the wall.

"Um…"

_I'm falling for him_, Sakura thought again, trying to see something in his face that might show any feeling or comfort with their position. But just as she thought, there was none.

_Why do I always pick the ones that will never fall with me?_

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and for once in her life, let her head take over instead of her heart. When she opened them again, she laughed. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to tell it was forced.

"Good morning," she said sweetly.

In his tactful haste to move away, Kakashi fell off the bed with a thump.

* * *

Quite easily, Kakashi tore the jutsu paper from the doorway and opened it without looking back at Sakura. He'd been sort of quiet, but Sakura believed he was trying to figure out how to be comfortable after almost deflowering her in his sleep. His mask was down, and he hadn't bothered to put on his vest.

"You know, I'm comfortable about this morning," Sakura said happily as she treaded down the dingy hall behind him, raising her nose at the tearing wallpaper and water stained ceiling.

Kakashi glanced back at Sakura briefly, slowing his stride while taking in the way his shirt looked too long for her, almost hiding her shorts and medic skirt underneath. _Damn, that's appealing_, he thought to himself. The mental scolding would come later, but he always liked the look of a woman wearing his shirt. _And a gentleman would never let a woman traipse around in a ripped tunic, would he? _

"What about this morning?" Kakashi said innocently, hoping that a discussion about his morning maul of her was going to just implode into non-existence.

Thankfully, Sakura understood and shrugged, dropping it as efficiently as he needed her too. Perception was a wonderful thing in a woman.

"What about breakfast?" Sakura asked, feeling her stomach object to moving on without sustenance and effectively lightening the mood at the same time.

"I suppose we could find a little out-of-the-way place. From what I saw of it last night, this seems like a quiet little town where nothing happens. We should find a little anonymity and seclusion here. Hey, do you hear music?"

Sakura almost bounced along behind Kakashi, feeling better than the night before, but still yearning to figure out how to make a connection with him. He wasn't exactly cooperating this morning, but it was a start. Sadly, she had to put it out of her mind and become a ninja again. They had a real job to do. People in Sand were in danger.

As they stepped out of the heavy back doorway of the fleabag hotel, a strange sight slapped them with colour and shock. Everywhere in the streets, people danced, brightly coloured costumes roamed, and children shrieked and laughed, dropping their popcorn and playing with toys. Red crepe-paper lanterns were hung everywhere, and music blared from a band on a small platform, just visible over the gold and tack of showgirl-like giant hats and the swaying crowd.

"What the f…?" Kakashi's mouth dropped open.

Sakura's eyes were just as wide. "Wow, what is this?"

People danced by, and the loud music was paired with voices of laughter and celebration. Shaking her head and bringing herself out of her stupor, Sakura reached out and tugged over the first person skipping within arms length.

"Excuse me? What is going on here?" she asked a young man dressed in red with a large hat made of crepe paper. It had a golden number one on it, and was as gaudy as the hotel room they had just left.

"What? You don't know? It's the festival of independence for the Ichiban village. Where the hell are you two from?" His brown eyes looked up at the hitae-ate in her hair and then down her body, scanning her for the information he wanted.

"Oh, no, no! We came for the festival." Kakashi smiled exaggeratedly as he put his arm over Sakura's head and tugged off his own headband – closing his sharingan.

Sakura nodded, understanding that they had to hide that they were ninja. But hell, if they didn't look like ninja, then no one ever had.

With a clear look of disbelief, the red dressed man wandered back into the crowd to rejoin the celebration with a wary and untrusting last glance back before disappearing.

"Holy crap! It's like a huge party," Sakura laughed happily, still amazed with the visual onslaught. "I wish we could stay."

"Let's just get something to eat and we'll move on quickly." Kakashi sneered a little, "…hate crowds." He took a deep breath and moved toward the tide of bodies, not bothering to see if Sakura was following – which she was.

For at least ten minutes, they were jostled and bumped around as they fought the melee. A man banged Sakura hard enough to make her drop her bag, but he happily picked it up and shoved it back into her hands before dancing away. She hadn't even managed to get out a thank you.

Finally, they were able to find their way to the small restaurant on the other side of the short main street. It almost seemed like Kakashi was trying to escape death the way he flew through the door and bee-lined for a booth.

Sakura sauntered after him, still engaged with the reverie begging her to join through the decorated windows. Slipping into the seat across from Kakashi and glancing at his look of perturbation as he slid his hitai-ate back on, she suddenly felt tired.

"You know, one might say you are claustrophobic the way you panicked in that crowd, Senpai," she mumbled.

"Hm. I just don't like crowds."

"Do tell," she retorted as she picked up the menu and scanned for something tasty for breakfast.

"Best place for assassinations."

Sakura's clear green eyes peeked at him over the sticky brown plastic in her hands. Kakashi couldn't say he could read that look. It actually puzzled him a little. Turning to rest against the wall and lift his leg onto the booth seat, the copy-nin tipped his head back in a lazy manner. "Well, it was my location of choice, anyway."

Sakura's eyes still watched him intently and he tried his best to ignore how it was getting to him.

"Morning!" A happy voice said beside their table. "What can I get you?"

Gratefully, Sakura looked up to see a teenage boy smiling congenially, and holding a notepad up with conviction.

"Excellent!" she said with enthusiasm. "We'll get our food quickly this time!"

Kakashi looked at the boy and then at Sakura, lifting his head with some realization.

"Did you just call me Senpai?"

* * *

After two helpings of dumplings, Sakura sat back and fought the large burp that would make her insides feel better, but make her femininity cry for help. Kakashi had barely eaten, instead sipping coffee and taking the odd bite of toast.

Discussion was almost nil, which seemed to be digressing their relationship back to day one. Sakura didn't like it at all.

"So, how do you want to approach this now? Should we start moving and continue on until we reach Sand?" It was sort of a ridiculous question. Sakura knew the plan; she just wanted to end the silence.

But Kakashi turned and gave her his full attention, obviously ignoring what she asked. It seemed he had something else on his mind. "I apologize for waking up on you this morning. I don't normally sleep that deeply."

Sakura smiled a little and creased her brow at the same time. He'd said that with a large attempt to seem casual, natural, and yet it came across a little hurried and uncomfortable. How long had he been thinking about it?

"Don't worry about it, Kakashi. I wasn't complaining." She laughed as she said it, but Kakashi's eyes locked on hers. Apparently, her ability to make a truthful comment a joke was about as easy as his less-than-casual apology.

"Who'd like the bill?" The young mans voice cut through the thick tension just in time.

Sakura and Kakashi both pointed to each other.

"Oooookayyyy," the waiter said as he placed the slip of paper on the edge of the table and wandered calmly to the cash register at the counter.

Kakashi and Sakura, still pointing, engaged in a stare-down. But after all the thoughts and strange urges Sakura had been having lately, she decided to just pay and get out of his line of sight for a second.

As she pulled her bag to the booth seat, she drawled, "Yeah, yeah. I know. Cheap."

"Ah," he laughed as he reclined against the wall again. "I'm out of money now after paying at the hotel last night."

Digging in her pack for her small money pouch, a sudden tight squeeze of her chest made her open her mouth and gasp for air.

Kakashi leaned forward, his right eye wide, "Sakura, what…?"

"M…money….scroll….dirty book….g…gone."

"What?" Kakashi hissed, leaning farther over the table to look into the open bag as well. Slowly, he sat back down and they both looked up at the waiter standing expectantly at the cash register.

* * *

"I don't know what happened to it. I put it in the pack this morning and now its gone," Sakura growled for the third time as she thrust her hands into the hot soapy water of the restaurant sink.

Kakashi rubbed his hands on his apron as he placed more dishes beside her on the shiny metal countertop. They looked at each other, understanding the magnitude of the loss of the scroll.

Had Sakura not been so upset and fearful of losing the scroll, she might have laughed at the hairnet over his precious silver hair. As it stood now, she was just depressed that her dishpan hands had been responsible for something that could start or prevent a war, and she'd managed to lose it in record time.

Kakashi voiced his thoughts for the tenth time. "We have to get it back."

Sakura resisted the urge to say 'duh' and instead settled for a childish eye roll.

"Try to think. Did you leave it in the room?"

"If you ask me that one more time, I'm going to drown you in this sink."

With a defeated sigh, Kakashi leaned back against the counter next to Sakura. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm sorry. Bickering won't fix this. Let's just mentally retrace our steps up until this moment."

Of course, Sakura's thoughts immediately wound back to the hotel room bed. The sound of a small crowd in the restaurant and the clinking of dishes helped to calm her and she regained her goal but the sight of him sleeping was burned into the backs of her eyelids.

But when the realization hit, she felt like the biggest idiot since limbo-Naruto on margarita night at the Jounin pub.

Her hand slapped her forehead, smashing suds into her hair. "Damn it. A man bumped me in the crowd. He actually picked my bag up for me. I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"That's good. At least we can now presume that someone has taken it. I'll just send Pakkun to locate it and then we'll just steal it back." Kakashi cleared his throat. "And maybe the other things too."

"Absolutely!" Sakura said exaggeratedly as she turned back to her task of washing dishes. "How anyone could live with themselves after stealing such a masterpiece of porn is beyond me." Feeling immensely better that Kakashi was confident that they could easily retrieve the scroll, Sakura enjoyed the start of teasing again.

But when hands slid over her waist from behind, she froze. "Kakashi?"

She could feel the heat of his body flush against her back and resisted the urge to lean back into him as desperately as she wanted to. Getting closer, he pinned her front against the sink edge and pressed his mouth on the shell of her ear.

"Sakura. Good porn is the second best cure for sexual repression," he said softly, just before he slipped his hands under her arms and plunged them into the sink, soaking her from head to belly button.

"You bastard!" she screamed through a mouthful of soapsuds. "Don't you ever get tired of getting me wet?"

* * *

Standing at the edge of the forest, Sakura stripped off the wet black jounin shirt Kakashi had lent her in favor of air-drying in her tank top, which she still wore.

Kakashi did a covert double take as she tugged the black garment over her head and tugged down the tank shirt that threatened to go with it.

When she was finished de-clothing and teasing him (he waited quite patiently, of course) Kakashi slipped a kunai from his leg holster and cut his thumb. Within seconds, he'd created the jutsu which summoned the small pug dog known to some as Pakkun, and to others - _pest_.

A small exchange ensued, a little out of earshot of Sakura. And when they both looked at her, she figured they were laying blame for losing the scroll. She stuck out her tongue.

Pakkun rubbed his nose and darted away.

Kakashi turned back to Sakura and pulled his mask back up over the face she'd gotten so used to looking at, and missed the instant it was hidden.

"We need money. There is another village about an hour from here. We can both go, or I can go alone and meet you back here later. What do you want to do?"

Sakura shrugged. If he traveled alone, she wouldn't slow him down and chances were he'd get there without an altercation. But on the off chance he got caught up in something, two ninja were better than one – even if that one was the copy-nin.

"I'll come."

* * *

Wandering into the next village after an hour's run through the dense forest, Sakura shook her head at the site she beheld. Kakashi just rubbed at his temples and breathed slowly in and out, trying to avoid a burst blood vessel.

"Did we just go in a circle?" Sakura grumbled.

"No. Look, the costumes are blue." Kakashi stared at the enormous throng of people dancing and singing under the navy blue lanterns trimmed in silver in the small village, eerily similar to the last. "This is so strange."

Finding her patience as thin as the crepe paper hats everyone was adorned with, Sakura stomped forward and grabbed a woman who was doing some sort of jig on the outskirts of the crowd.

"Excuse me. Can you tell me what is going on here?"

The elderly lady did a double. "Where are your blue robes?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. He was beginning to think that he was still asleep in the fleabag and he'd eaten something bad for dinner the night before.

"What?" Sakura said with exasperation. "We just want to know what the party is about."

"Oh…you aren't from here? Today was the day we won our independence from the Ichiban village. We are celebrating our victorious battle from twenty years ago. This is the Niban village."

Sakura looked at Kakashi and shook her head. It seemed that they were at the edges of the Fire and Wind countries respectively – the crazy edges. Both villages were celebrating independence. It didn't make sense.

"Can you tell me where a bank is?" Kakashi cut in, clearly holding the fraying edges of his patience together.

"All closed, Sonny. It's a statutory holiday! You could try the Sanban village about a four hour walk from here."

"Thanks," he hissed as nicely as possible. "Sakura, I'll go on my own and you can stay here. Pakkun will be returning to this village and I don't want him to wander off and do something stupid if we aren't here."

Sakura nodded and sighed. "How long do you think you'll be? You know, just in case I need to look for you if you don't come back."

"Two hours." He turned and began to distance himself from the crowd. On his heels, Sakura trotted along and tried to keep the hollow pit in her stomach from growing. Kakashi was chancing a run alone to another village, and she was to wait for Pakkun. With each moment, the scroll could be getting further and further away. It was her fault that everything was going wrong; she truly believed that.

"Don't worry. We'll get it back," Kakashi said as he stopped and secured his pack with all the straps instead of the lazy one strapped hold he had up to now.

Sakura nodded, feeling a little better for his confidence and a little awed that he'd known what she was thinking. Wow, if he could read her thoughts, she would've been in some trouble before now.

Kakashi stepped up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Whatever you do, don't leave the village. I need to be able to find you when I get back."

Again, Sakura nodded.

Kakashi spun on his heel and jumped to a low branch in the first tree on the edge of the forest. "Don't get into any trouble. Just…stay out of sight."

"Okay, Dad." Sakura saluted. She expected some comment or show of exaggerated annoyance, but Kakashi seemed to be in business mode. In a flash, he was gone without a look back.

Alone for the first time in days, Sakura sighed and turned to look at the party. Really, she didn't feel like having fun. Instead, she decided to find a bar and use the spare change in the bottom of her bag for a pick-me-up.

She was sure just one wouldn't hurt.

* * *

A/N: Ug, transitionary. Crack, and drunk ninjas coming up. 


	8. Unhappy Independence Day

Chapter 8

Unhappy Independence Day

* * *

Indeed, there was a seedy and run-down bar in the small town of Niban, which made Haruno Sakura quite grateful. By no means was she an alcoholic, but by no means was she a saint either. Tsunade had ingrained in her student all the positive virtues of a drink at various times in life, and missions were no exclusion. 

Sakura remembered a red-faced Hokage slurring her words and pointing at her over a half gone glass of something strong – Sakura only remembered the taste, not the name. "Sakura," she sloshed drunkenly, "I never did poorly on an exam that I drank prior to." Honestly, Sakura had an inkling that there were very few occasions in her life that the old Sannin hadn't drank before.

It didn't make sense at the time, but later the idea of taking the hard edge off any situation was worth taking a sip of something strong. Often, over the years, Sakura had spent time building up her tolerance and learning her limits. Today was one of those days where taking the edge off sounded like a good idea.

A single drink would be enough. The warmth in her stomach and the taste on her tongue of some sweet mixture might make it easier to face Kakashi after screwing up - yet again. He'd never blame her for losing the scroll; she was sure of that. But the blame was hers regardless.

As she approached the open doorway of the beaten up tavern on the edge of the Niban village, she could hear a few masculine laughs and a loud bang of some sort come from the delapidated building. It looked like somewhere Jiraiya might hang out, and so Sakura slipped the now dry jounin shirt of Kakashi's back on – just in case.

When she wandered inside, all eyes turned to her as if she had rung a loud bell. _Yay for foresight._ With the exception of the elderly woman behind the bar, she was the only female in sight – most times a plus, but definitely not this time.

By the look of the gruesome crowd, leering was not a social discourtesy in their minds. Every greasy, dirty, fat, scungy, unshaven man from twenty miles around appeared to be in the bar, slugging drinks, arguing or belching out something. The urge to turn around and walk out was in full force complimented by inner Sakura waving frantically in the other direction.

_Ah, what the hell,_ the tired medic said to herself, _there isn't a ninja in the place. No danger here._

The only immediate danger was the possibility that she might shiver her skin off from the creepy stares of the patrons. Since that was medically impossible, she moved calmly to the bar and waited for the elderly woman to hobble her way down to take her order.

As Sakura plopped down on a barstool, leaning heavily on her arm, she scanned the place, taking in the gouged and sticky bar top, the dingy smoke-yellow walls and the lack of general décor besides a drunk asleep next to the washroom door (of which there was only one).

"What'll you have?" the elderly woman finally asked from across the bar, running a tea towel inside a glass with a squeak.

"Hm. I guess a cup of sake, please," Sakura answered politely, deciding on quick effect over taste for her choice.

With a curt nod, the elderly woman turned away to grab a bottle and then turned back to pour some out into a small cup.

Sakura's fingers wrapped slowly around the chipped wooden vessel full of liquid courage and she sighed. Two hours alone in the tiny village of Niban was going to be a long two hours. Craving Kakashi's company had become something of a requisite now, but even in this crowd, she'd be happy enough with Naruto or even Pakkun. But before Sakura could wallow deeper into self-pity, a gruff voice pulled her from her inner workings.

"What is a little girl like you doing in a bar? Not joining the party?"

Sakura looked sideways at a man who was probably born a day before the first Hokage and missing all but three teeth. He smiled widely, and Sakura couldn't help but notice that tooth number two looked like it was on its last mile.

"Um. I'm just waiting for a friend who went to the next village to the bank. I'm not here for the party." She turned back to her drink and stared through the clear liquid to the bottom of the cup.

"Won't find no money today, sweetheart. All five villages are closed for celebration."

"F…five? There aren't any villages around here with a bank open?" Sakura felt a pang of guilt that Kakashi was darting to another frustrating village with a closed bank and who knows what kind of crazy party going on. A mental picture of a silver haired jounin trashing orange crepe-paper lanterns crossed her tired thoughts.

"Nope. Not a one within a day's walk."

"How the hell are we going to get money?" Sakura grumbled to herself. Without meaning to, she hunched a little over her drink and began to fit in with the crowd.

Another raspy voice piped in from a table nearby. "A pretty girl like you could make plenty of money in here, honey."

Sakura spun on her stool, finger up, and chakra drawn. The _'I can beat your ass with one finger_' speech was winding up in her head, but when she spotted a crisp bill in between the two men at the table, she got a better idea.

She smiled sweetly. "I think you're right, big guy. How about you help me with my money problem. Up for a little fun?"

The desired effect of her statement rang around the room as every head rose and every set of droopy, bloodshot eyes (in some cases just a lone one) all focused on the young woman. An immediate tide of nods and grunts through smirks filled the tavern.

Sakura grinned wider. "I was hoping you'd say that."

* * *

"This–_cannot_-be-happening," Kakashi grumbled as cymbals crashed at the forefront of a marching band. The Sanban village apparently was the winner in the mysterious war of twenty years ago as well. Kakashi was beginning to think that it was probably a war over alcohol, and everyone had been made to consume it every minute of every day since. 

He shook his head, growing more frustrated by the second. An hour of time wasted, and now they were broke. The next village was another four hours run away, and possibly rife with another independent celebration of lunatics. Taking the chance would be foolish. Pakkun would be returning, and they needed to find the scroll soon.

A _real _war depended on them.

Leaving Sakura alone wasn't sitting well either. Granted, she was a grown woman, capable ninja, and perfectly able to take care of herself, but she was probably knee deep in the blame game – of which she was always the loser. Funny how she always took the burden of blame, he thought. He always believed it was his job.

He supposed they were more alike than he thought.

And then there was the morning groping. Yes, he was embarrassed, but somewhere in there he was shocked at how easily he had slept beside her. Worse still, his subconscious must have been wanting her bad enough to make him a danger to her virtue in his sleep.

Whatever was happening, Kakashi wasn't oblivious to her extended stares, and the way she was starting to behave around him. But try as he might, he couldn't decide if he wanted to discourage or encourage her. It was flattering, and he was warming (maybe lukewarm) to not completely opposing the attention.

Well, he had an hour's run back to her. Maybe an epiphany would come that would solve every problem they had encountered up to now.

Turning to leave town, and deciding that he detested marching bands, Kakashi felt a hand grab his arm. He turned to look down at a boy of about twelve.

"Hey, they've been looking for y…oh, sorry. I thought you were the clown that didn't show up." The young man's eyes looked up at the copy-nin's silver hair.

Kakashi's eye narrowed.

* * *

"I don't get it. How could that kid take all my money!" a man grumbled to the bartender. They both turned to watch as Sakura leaned on the table and a tower of a man wandered up to the chair across from her. She took a second to stuff a fistful of bills into her bra via the collar of Kakashi's shirt before giving the man her attention. 

"Wait, wait," Sakura slushed a little, pointing at him but not managing to actually point to him, "Let me finish my drink."

Who knew that when someone lost a contest in a bar in Niban, they had to buy the winner a drink? Had Sakura been more sober, she might have questioned that little tidbit her first opponent laid out. By now, nothing was abundantly clear through the intoxication.

The man across from her waved his hand dismissively. "Do you really think you can beat me?" He chuckled darkly, his large chest heaving with his amusement. His dark beady eyes made him look like an overstuffed pig with pink cheeks and thinning hair.

Sakura took a deep breath, downed the contents of her tenth glass, and then proceeded to give her adversary the once over – fuzzy vision and all. "Bah, you don't look like much."

The burly man, twice the size of the rest of the patrons, flexed his muscles – taking the time to crack a walnut in between his bicep and forearm. Another laugh belted out of him and the crowd seemed like they agreed with his self-assessment. It was a little like a twisted carnival sideshow, and he was the strong man.

"Still not impressed," Sakura yawned lazily, then placed her elbow on the table and held her hand out.

The giant of a man sat down, banged his elbow on the table, and clasped Sakura's small hand in his ham-like one.

"Ug, sweaty…" Sakura hacked out, cringing with disgust.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll wipe it off with the money you'll be giving me in about three seconds. And maybe after that, I'll take the rest of that money out of your bra for you."

Sakura rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "You won't be putting those hammy sausages anywhere near me, Gamabunta."

"We'll see, kid."

A man beside the table began to count down, "3…2…1…go!"

Sakura let the chakra flow through her shoulder and down into her arm and hand as her muscles and tendons flexed and strained. Her opponent tightened his grip, almost crushing her fingers before the chakra could get all the way through.

Both grunting and gritting their teeth, Sakura felt that she should at least give him a little more time before the crunch than she did the others. Suspicious as it looked for a petite pink-haired woman to basically smash hands of larger men on a table, she was sure that after her current defeat, she wouldn't get any more takers so she needed to make this one count.

"You ugly bitch," he growled angrily with the frustration of imminent loss. He couldn't budge her hand an inch.

"What did you just call me?" Sakura hissed out, finding some anger cutting through the fog of alcohol. "That's it. Shows over!" With an easy push of chakra, Sakura slammed the man's hand down so hard, it smashed through the tabletop, toppling him to the floor. She had to stumble away to keep her footing, but remained standing.

A general gasp filled the tavern and then silence right after. The large beefy man sat on the floor, looking like Sakura had just slapped him with a plank right across the face.

She fussed her clothes straight, made sure her hair was neat with quick fingers and then said coolly, "All right, silver-tongue. I'll take my money and be on my way," taking stock of where everyone was in the bar, and keeping her chakra flowing.

Rubbing his sweaty face, her opponent clumsily lifted himself off the ground. If he turned any redder, Sakura was quite sure she might see steam come from his ears.

"Oh, no. I said I'd be taking my money out of your bra, and that is just what I'm going to do. I don't know how you managed to do that, kid, but you'll be regretting it the rest of your life." Backing up his words, the large man thrust what was left of the table out of his way, denting the wall and splintering the remains.

Well, usually Haruno Sakura was tactful in fights, looking for ways to keep it from escalating. She was a medic, for goodness sake. Her normal role was support, and healing, not fighting. But, on the rare occasion when alcohol mixed with chakra, mixed with insult, and mixed with anger, inner Sakura would step aside for inner Tsunade.

Calmly, Sakura lifted one finger. "All right, Buddha, I'm going to beat your ass to the ground with just this one tiny manicured finger."

The large man puffed out his chest, pulling himself up to his full height. "Bring it on, bitch."

* * *

Kakashi arrived back in the village of Niban to find the sun getting ready to go down. How had the day disappeared so quickly_? Oh yeah, running, running, running…_

As he wandered around the streets looking for any sign of Sakura, he shook his head at what was left of the carnival-turned-drunken festival a la teetering men and women lining the streets.

At least there wasn't a large crowd anymore. …_hate crowds..._

The glowing lanterns were looking much more vibrant overhead against the evening backdrop, and Kakashi was feeling a little put out that Sakura wasn't waiting where he left her. As he stood among streamers and balloons blowing along the road, he heard a small pop of chakra and spun on his heel to see whom it was.

"I hope you have good news for me," he grumbled, scratching at his mask, but deciding to keep it on.

"Yes and no," Pakkun said calmly. "I located the scroll, but it's in the hands of a trader in a casino town in the Wind Country."

Kakashi sighed and drooped his tired shoulders, "…hate sand."

"Where is Sakura-chan?" Pakkun asked.

"You tell me," Kakashi mumbled while raising his gaze and looking around the street again. "Could you find her?"

Pakkun nodded and began sniffing the ground around Kakashi's feet. After circling the jounin three times and narrowly avoiding a kick to the behind, the small dog led them toward a grungy building at the edge of town.

"She's here?" Kakashi asked incredulously, staring in disbelief at a building far worse than any fleabag they might have stayed in.

Pakkun rolled his eyes. "Where is the trust, Kakashi?"

Just as Kakashi came to terms with the idea that Sakura was inept at keeping herself out of trouble, a table smashed the dirty window of the tavern to pieces as it flew out.

"Yep, she's in there," Kakashi sighed, dropping his pack next to the dog. "Stay here, Pakkun."

"If you insist," the dog responded smartly.

Kakashi darted to the tavern entrance, easily avoiding a glass that flew from the open doorway, and was shocked by the sight before him. At least twenty men were engaged in a bar brawl, smashing bottles over each other and tossing tables around. Fists were flying and headlocks were in abundance.

"Sakura?" Kakashi tried to yell over the din as a fist flew at him. Of course, just a side step led his assailant's hand into the doorframe behind him with a crack. "Sakura?" Kakashi called out again.

Another man darted at the jounin, fist up, and foolishly thinking he was a match for the ninja. Kakashi led the fist around him, tripping up the fool for good measure. It was a head that made a thud against the doorframe this time.

"Damn it," he growled, deciding that he no longer had the patience to tolerate waiting for the room to clear. And so drawing chakra, as much as he had, Kakashi used a jutsu similar to his chidori to employ electric currents from his body as a way to search for her. The strength of the currents was to zero in on other chakra and not to harm. Spilling his chakra forward, Kakashi tried to locate Sakura's chakra with it. Most likely, she was the only one in the room that had some.

What Kakashi hadn't expected was that the men in the Niban village had probably never felt or seen chakra before. As his chakra flowed, the fighting seemed to end and they backed up to the walls to avoid the currents of energy flooding the room.

It was then that Sakura came into view.

She was at the back of the room fighting someone pretty damn large by Kakashi's estimation, but true to her Shishou, she had only one finger up and a smirk all too familiar.

Sakura gave the man one final flick in the head, sending him flying over the last intact table in the room. And it was that moment that Kakashi's chakra hit her. The power of it was so familiar, yet so staggeringly strong that it backed her up to the wall.

The young woman looked up in complete surprise to see the form of her teammate standing in the doorway, his silhouette unmistakable against the evening light behind him. Just seeing him was making her react, but having his energy crawling over her was above sensory. Every skin cell and hair on her body felt it; every breath was laced with it.

Had she been more coherent, she would have wondered if the feeling was painful, like frozen skin that burned with a touch. The sensation was so intense that she couldn't describe what it was doing to her. For now, there was nothing else; even the numbness of drinking couldn't dull it.

Still not releasing the jutsu, Kakashi finally began to walk forward.

Sakura pressed against the back wall and watched every step he took. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart racing with the feel of his chakra flowing into her and touching her own. The rush of blood was in her ears, and suddenly there was no one in the room but Kakashi. If he got too close, she was sure she would pass out from the exhilaration of their connection.

But when the jounin finally stood toe to toe with her, he dispelled the jutsu. He looked down at her; it was only too obvious to him that she was drunk. Her wide eyes looked unfocused, glassy almost, and her cheeks were flushed – although perhaps from the fight a moment ago. Her lips were parted, and she had a look of vague surprise.

"W…wow," she whispered breathily, her skin still tingling so much she felt like she would burst.

Kakashi shook his head and let out a long breath. She was so much trouble.

He bent slowly in front of her, and then grasping her around the knees, picked Sakura up so that she fell over his shoulder. The medic made some noise of surprise and protest, but Kakashi was done listening. Tired from his run, and grouchy because he was hungry and had no money, he turned and stomped toward the exit, grabbing her pack on his way.

No one made a move toward them. And when they got to the door, Sakura waved back happily feeling accomplished and warmly intoxicated.

"Bye! And thanks!"

Only one man waved back out of the shocked, black-eyed bunch, and she smiled widely at him, hoping that his tooth wouldn't hurt when it fell out.

When Kakashi lurched through the door, still holding his cargo, the cool evening air assaulted them. Sakura shivered against the tight hold around her legs. The money she'd won was itching her skin between her bra and breast, and she kicked her feet a little.

"Put me down, Kakashi," she slurred, giving little real fight.

Of course, he ignored her.

Sakura leaned on her elbows against Kakashi's back, trying not to get motion sick from looking at the passing ground and his heels gliding under him like pendulums. Her eyes drifted a little and she raised an eyebrow at the sight of his behind within reach.

"Definitely a ten," she laughed out.

"Hm?" Kakashi hummed, half-listening.

"You know, that was damn fun!" she said happily, and finding the sake buzz so liberating, she stretched her hand out and slapped Kakashi's behind. "Hm…firm!"

All his movement stopped suddenly, and Sakura froze for a second. Trying hard not to snort out her amusement, she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and hung lazily, her hair dangling down. She liked the feel of it waving under her freely.

"Kakashi? Are you rolling your eyes or are your cheeks turning red?" Finding her own humour very funny, Sakura felt into a fit of laughter.

Kakashi began walking again, not exactly sure where they were going, and not exactly sure how long his sanity had left. And yes, he _was_ rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Sakura spoke to the ground, "Let's get a room, Kakashi."

"With what?" he growled over his shoulder.

"I have lots of money now," she giggled, "And I want room service. No fleabags, cheapo. Take me somewhere nice. I want to have a bath and get into a big warm bed. Your fiancé demands it."

_Oh, so we're back to that, are we?_

Room service sounded damn good to Kakashi right about then, just as his stomach added its two cents. "All right," he sighed, wondering when the heck she was going to pass out.

Glancing down at the ground as they made their way to a hotel, Kakashi watched Pakkun jogging beside them, taking quick looks up at Sakura from time to time, who was now unusually quiet.

"Is she passed out?" Kakashi mouthed to his four-legged companion.

Pakkun shook his head and said matter of factly, "She's just watching your ass."

* * *

Kakashi flicked on the light of the hotel room at a bed and breakfast that he'd managed to procure – sloshed kunoichi over his shoulder and all. He wasn't sure if they believed that they were newlyweds, but regardless, she shouted it loud enough for the dead to hear. 

He was tired. Not sure of exactly why he was so exhausted today, mentally _and_ physically, Kakashi just knew that he needed food, a shower, and sleep. On the walk from the bar, he thought of so many things he wanted to say to Sakura – or rather yell at her. But admonishing her for drinking the afternoon away, even if it was to get money, would not help matters (even though he _really _would have enjoyed telling her off at that moment).

The first thing he looked at was the king size bed in the middle of the room covered in a plush looking white duvet. The walls were a cream colour and there were fresh flowers and candles around the room. Obviously the newlyweds got the honeymoon suite.

A bottle of champagne chilled in a stand full of ice, and strawberries dipped in chocolate sat on a cold plate on a counter.

He dropped their bags near his feet, pulled down his mask and laughed softly to himself. Too bad they weren't going to be using any of it, well, except the bed.

With cracking knees, Kakashi leaned forward and placed Sakura's feet on the floor in front of him. While holding her waist, he rose up to see that her eyes were blinking slowly and she had a general lack of balance.

"You okay?" he asked as he lightly tapped one shoulder then the other, straightening her every time she teetered to one side.

"My head hurts a little," she whispered as she fell forward slowly.

Kakashi inched up and let her fall against him, her head lobbing on his shoulder. He moved the hair that had fallen in front of her face to find her eyes closed.

"Don't pass out yet," Kakashi said quietly as he wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up a few inches to carry her. With a gentle hand, he guided her to sit down on the side of the bed, and then crouched down in front of her.

Sakura seemed to find some lucidity and she leaned forward, elbows on her knees, chin on palm. Wearily, she watched Kakashi's fingers working the buckles of her leg guards open just as he did that night in the forest. Being so intoxicated, it was easy to admit to herself how much she liked his touch.

Next, Kakashi slipped her shoes off her feet by the heels the same way a mother would do for a child. Then he looked up and found her face close enough to touch his. Trying to be nonchalant, he leaned back a little and took a good look at her half-mast gaze.

She looked tired, inebriated and damn cute. The rosy cheeks mottled with the liquid heat of sake swirling around in her blood stream gave her a glow in the dim light of the honeymoon suite. The lopsided grin she gave him was telling of what she was feeling too.

Had he been one of those guys, he might have had the thought to take advantage of her. Ok, he did, but it was just a normal thought that came with testosterone and male parts. He'd never act on it – never like that, and never with her. He had too much pride as a man to behave like that. Women were something of a challenge. When they were easy, it wasn't fun.

Sakura, of course, was a special case as well. There was too much history, too many things that bonded them. For him to act on feelings with her would mean he was choosing complication…

"You should get to sleep," he whispered as he stood up, leaned forward, and grabbed her ankles. A quick swing of her feet got her turned the right way, and she practically fell on the pillow. Her pink hair splayed out on the pillowcase, making her look like something akin to a wilted flower.

"Ow," she groaned as she rubbed a spot on her head just above her temple. A little hiss followed.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know. Headache, I guess." Sakura closed her eyes and continued to rub at her head. A second later, warm fingers slid in between hers to graze her temple as well, but much more gently than she had.

"It feels like a bump. Did you get hit?"

"Not by the mammoth, no. I recall a smash behind me. I might have taken a glass to the head or something." She opened her eyes and blinked slowly at the man sitting on the bed and leaning over her. Even lacking in coherent thought, she knew she wouldn't want to be with anyone else at that moment.

"I'll get some ice for you." Kakashi tried to stand up but her clumsy fingers grabbed at his shirt. He paused and looked back down at her lazy, but pleading gaze.

"You must have done something really wrong to get stuck with me," she sighed, looking like she was getting emotional and a little depressed.

_Ah, yes - alcohol_…. Kakashi shook his head. _Here we go._

"I haven't done anything wrong. So you must have done something wrong to get stuck with me." He smiled, but her countenance didn't change.

"I'm tired…"

"You should sleep."

"…tired of screwing up."

"Then don't."

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment. He had that easy overly-happy smile on his face that told her he was bestowing on her one of his bullshit pearls of wisdom. But success always followed those nuggets and it made her smile. He said it so casually, like it was just that easy. You don't like screwing up, so don't. Nutshell.

Sluggishly and a little unladylike, she scooted over on the bed to the other half and lay on her side watching him.

Kakashi got the hint, and eased onto the bed beside her, tossing his headband off in the process. He lay on his back, fingers laced behind his head, and closed his eyes. It only took a moment before he felt the weight of her head on his shoulder, and her arm across his stomach.

He turned a little to look down at her; she had eyes closed and breaths deepening. The scent of her hair, strawberries mixed with smoke, was familiar and a little bit comforting. The warmth of her body against his felt good, really damn good…too damn good.

Even like that with her though he was comfortable. Perhaps tomorrow it would make him silent with thought, but tonight he was fine with it. Tonight, maybe he needed a little comfort as well.

"Kakashi?" she hummed sleepily. "I probably… won't remember this in the morning…so thanks."

"Hm?"

Her words were slow, slurred and mumbled. "You really… should be a jerk…to me…"

Kakashi looked down at her with a creased brow. When had he ever been a jerk to her? And why would he anyway?

She grunted a little, and he wondered if she was actually sleep-talking. Then she said, in almost a breath of a whisper, "…so I can stop thinking about you."

Funny enough, it wasn't a surprise to him.

Unfortunately, his own reaction to her words was.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to the lovely icarust for betaing. I'm sorry it took so long. I think the end part got rewritten twenty six times. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. More crack cometh and maybe something a little limeish in the next 2. 


	9. Angry Clowns Are No Fun

Chapter 9

An Angry Clown is Bad

* * *

_You should be a jerk to me…so I can stop thinking about you._

It rattled through Kakashi's head about thirty times. Did he want her to stop thinking about him? He supposed that was the big question of the mission. He wasn't sure of the answer, and it was causing him a certain amount of anxiety.

To be honest, he'd normally go the other way when a woman was so blatantly interested in something more than sex.

Why hadn't he put a stop to the flirtation, and where they were headed to before now? He didn't expect to be having an inner debate, but her words instigated it and now he was stuck facing what he wasn't planning to face.

Did he want her to stop thinking about him?

It was a difficult question. Not a _meaning of life_ type question, but did have an answer that could change a life.

From the moment he raised goose bumps on her arm that first night, he knew something was different between them. The second he stuck his hand in her shirt at the bell test and grazed her breast (unbeknownst to her), he couldn't think of her as little Haruno Sakura, his old student, anymore.

She was a grown woman who was very much the sort of woman he liked, and who seemed to like him in return. Looks were important on a lower level, but it wasn't the only thing that drew him to someone. Confidence, self-assuredness and a flick of attitude were appealing to Kakashi. Thinking a woman could possibly be stronger than him was about the biggest turn-on he could imagine.

Over the last few days, he began to wonder how she would have appeared to him had they not had previous history. She was probably someone he would have noticed on the street or by reputation. She was probably someone he would have looked for after hearing all the men talking about her – which they constantly did. She was probably someone he would have pursued…

The fact that she was probably the woman that knew him better than all other women (due to a certain amount of aloofness on his part in general) made him wonder if he even knew what he would want from her.

Sadly, he knew what she wanted from him, and he wondered how prudent it would be to throw caution to the wind and let it play out. Curiosity was a devil, but consequence was a sticky note on the door of curiosity.

Well, he was getting tired himself, so free thought was just a waste of time. She wouldn't remember any of her night in the morning. She wouldn't remember her small confession to him, or the fact that she was sprawled across him, making him fight himself to stop bodily reactions.

Using the fingers of his free hand, he gently tipped her heavy head up so he could look at her closed eyes and only slightly parted lips. Shifting a little, Kakashi touched her cheek with his fingertips. He liked the look of her sleeping.

Sakura's eyes opened a little and she smiled lopsidedly at him before closing them again.

It couldn't go on without result or end. It was interfering with the mission and his focus. He would have to make up his mind.

Did he want her to stop thinking about him?

He smirked at her, and then whispered softly, "I don't mind if you think about me."

But in the morning, she wouldn't remember that either.

* * *

Light screamed its way through the windows of the room at the bed and breakfast, and Sakura wished for a second that Kakashi would shove a kunai through her eye and put her out of her misery. A hangover was rare for the kunoichi, but with the lack of food and water the day before, the dehydration was compounded into sheer agony. 

"Kill me," she mumbled.

"Kunai or chidori?" Kakashi offered, making Sakura look up from the tunnel of blankets she was encased in. Squinting, Sakura could just make out the copy-nin relaxing in a cozy looking armchair doing something with her red shirt.

"Are you sewing?" she rasped

Kakashi looked up at her and smiled a little, but only perfunctorily. "Chance favors the prepared," he said evenly, and then tossed the fixed red garment at her.

"Ug. Can you get me some water?" she groaned out, fighting the dry heaves as she ducked back under the blankets.

"Sure," Kakashi said quietly, almost like he didn't really want to speak with her.

Sakura moved a little, and felt something rustle underneath her. "Crap. I forgot to take

the money out of my bra. It's stuck to me everywhere," she groaned.

Kakashi bit his tongue as he filled a glass of water for her.

* * *

After a jug of cold water, two aspirins, a regurgitation session, and three more aspirins, Sakura managed to sit on the side of the bed, shivering and wishing she knew curses for crazy villages. Still quaffed with bed-head, she pulled the duvet tighter around her and sighed sadly. Dignity was so hard to achieve anymore. 

"All right, Pakkun, let's hear what you know," Kakashi said to the small dog sitting on the end of the bed. Pakkun looked up with his lazy eyes and gave Sakura a strange glance as if he'd never seen anything so pathetic before.

"Save it," she growled softly, and then rubbed at her temples.

The dog raised his nose at her, and then turned his attention to Kakashi who was back in the armchair, reclining lazily, fingers threaded over his stomach.

"Well, there is a man called Kogane Shin who owns a casino in the heart of the Wind Country's Golden Village. It's a seedy town, but a lot of money is generated there. He has your scroll."

"Did you see him?" Kakashi asked.

Pakkun coughed a little and spoke from the side of his mouth, "No, they kicked me out."

"No dogs allowed, huh," Sakura mumbled sarcastically. Hangovers were horrible for her personality. Apologies came later…always.

"By the looks of you, I guess you'd better not try then," Pakkun shot back.

"How can you be sure he has the scroll?" Kakashi asked, ignoring the general drop in adult mentality, and the death glare Sakura now gave the dog.

"I was in long enough to sniff it out in a back room. It's a private room for high stakes gambling. Only Kogane can allow someone to go in there. Apparently, you have to have something he really wants before he'll deal or gamble with you. But with him, everything is fair game. The word is that he is a trader in stolen goods, and keeps the really interesting things for gambling. And by the way, security in the hotel is excessive, to put it mildly."

"You found all this out when you were getting kicked out?" Sakura said with some skepticism.

"There were some men outside discussing it, and I happened to look busy at a fire hydrant nearby." Pakkun turned and focused back on Kakashi. "They looked like ninja."

Kakashi nodded slowly in thought. "We'd better hurry. That might have been the party it was intended for. If they get it before we do, it'll be bad."

Sakura felt the seriousness fill the room like a bad smell. Kakashi was all business today, and she began to worry about a slew of things, beginning with the idea that he might think she is a total screw-up and ending with the fact that she was missing bits of the night before.

"Pakkun, I'm going to send you to the Kazekage. You'll have to report what is happening. Even if we don't get the scroll, they need to be aware that an attack is coming. They also need to know that someone on the inside is helping the attack."

"Of course," Pakkun replied.

"I'll send another dog to Konoha. Tsunade might be worried about you, Sakura. She should know what is happening as well." Kakashi's eye flicked to her and then away just as quickly as it came.

_He looks indifferent…no, angry…no, annoyed? Shit, what did I do last night?_

Sakura began to rub her forehead frantically, trying to piece together exactly what happened after Kakashi picked her up at the bar – literally. Did she get sick on him? Did she tell him off? Did she…?

"Oh my god, I can't remember," Sakura hissed out loud. Pakkun and Kakashi looked up at her and without realizing it, she sank into the duvet around her a little lower.

* * *

After a shower, Sakura got back into her own clothes, but shoved Kakashi's long soft shirt into her pack – just in case…uh...her shirt suddenly disintegrating. She'd keep telling herself that and eventually she'd believe it. He never asked for it back, soooo… 

Kakashi wandered out of the hotel room first, and Sakura wandered behind him. It was like a replay of the day before, only this time, she was the quiet one. No matter how much she tried, there was no way to know what happened last night.

As she stepped over the threshold of the door, the morning newspaper headline caught her eye. It said something to the respect of "Disgruntled Clown Attacks Marching Band in Sanban." A picture was there, and Sakura bent down to look closer but Kakashi grabbed her arm and tugged her a little.

"Hurry up," he mumbled.

Sakura stumbled away and almost immediately her thoughts turned back to her hole-filled memory. Kakashi was acting strange.

She was sure she would know if they had sex. Nothing seemed…abnormal in respect to her body, and well, Kakashi didn't seem like the type to need to take advantage of a drunk woman. Besides, the money was still in her bra and inside her shirt in the morning. Of course, Sakura would be okay with a little one on one with Kakashi but would undoubtedly like to remember it should it come to fruition. She supposed the feel of his lips would be a hard thing to forget.

When they stepped out into the bright sunshine, Sakura felt like a vampire wanting to hiss at it and cower under something. Only a headache slowed her down now, and she felt relatively normal except for a little dehydration and a raving appetite.

"Food?" Kakashi said without turning around.

Sakura stopped and let him keep walking. The silence and discomfort was bothering her enough to make her hands shake. She was actually having a nervous physical reaction to her anxiety over what happened.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked from where he stopped a couple of yards away. Sakura could see his brow was creased; he looked puzzled and maybe even a little concerned.

"Did I…? I mean…last night, did I do anything to upset you?"

Kakashi opened his mouth under his mask, but then closed it again. She didn't remember. Did she do anything? No. Did she know that? No. He smiled a little.

"Define anything," he asked calmly, his voice not betraying his amusement.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh god, like…I don't know…embarrassing?"

"Well, I guess that depends on what is embarrassing for you. I probably would be uncomfortable with dancing on the hotel check-in desk and trying to take my clothes off…but that might just be me. The clerks didn't seem to mind, and our room was free."

Sakura could only stand there, her eyes scanning the sky for a lightning bolt to strike her down and end her misery. "You're lying, right?"

"I'm lying. Nothing happened. You said a few things, but nothing I didn't expect." Kakashi ran his hand through his white hair, still damp from the shower. "Let's just grab some food and go. I'd like to get to the Golden Village by early evening. If the scroll is still there, I want it tonight."

Sakura nodded and opened her mouth to ask what she had said that he had expected, but found she didn't really want to know. He'd broken the tension with his joke and they could be normal again, but she still felt like things were a little different between them.

* * *

They traveled in silence most of the afternoon until they reached the border of the Wind Country. The Golden Village was another three hours away, and in the opposite direction to the Hidden Sand village. With luck, Pakkun would be there by nightfall, and would have the Kazekage on alert. 

Kakashi looked at Sakura who had impressed him with how much she had staved off her hangover suffering, and never slowed their pace down. But the silence was uncomfortable. Even though Sakura couldn't remember what she'd said, it was obvious she knew that something had changed a little. Kakashi hadn't meant it to be obvious.

He'd never tell her he slid back into bed beside her after he'd gotten out to eat. Almost instantly, she'd rolled back onto him and he'd allowed her to. They spent the night like that, but he'd woken long before her.

Things looked so much worse in the morning hours for some reason. The momentary lapse in his normal bachelor behavior was a fluke perhaps. He couldn't see any sort of way the two of them could work. They were just too different, wanted different things from the opposite sex. They couldn't be…_a couple_.

But with that being logical and obvious, why couldn't he stop trying to work them out in his mind?

"Can you make it?" Kakashi asked, forcing the thoughts out of his head.

"Have I given any indication that I can't?" Sakura grumbled.

"Let's rest for a moment, then we'll go. We should plan how to get the scroll back."

"Steal it," Sakura said evenly as she plopped down on the sandy ground under the last few trees in sight. She relentlessly dug in her pack for a bottle of water.

"Pakkun said that security is tight there. I'm worried that he might have ninja on his payroll. The ninja we are trying to avoid might be skulking around as well. We should probably try to trade for it first." Kakashi pulled down his mask and rubbed his clean-shaven face.

"We have nothing to trade. He's probably already got your uber dirty book and all our money. What else of value do we have?" Sakura took a drink of her water and wiped her face with her bare arm. The coolness slid down her throat and she sighed after.

"You could seduce it away from him. You know, take one for the team." Kakashi began to dig around in his pack. With unpracticed ease, he pulled out his orange icha icha paradise book, flipping it open to the spot it always opened to.

"Nice. Maybe he'd prefer _you_ to seduce it away from him. _You_ could take one for this team. How's that sound?" Sakura's tone was down right snarky, but she was in no mood for his sarcasm. At least she was hoping it was sarcasm.

"I'm joking, Sakura. I'd never let you do that."

"And why not? I think I'd be quite good at seducing a man."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. He just couldn't win. No matter what he said, it would make her mad.

Setting the bottle down, she got up on her hands and knees, and crawled over to where Kakashi was sitting, who was ignoring her in favor of paper sex. She stopped in front of him and sat up on her knees, but with her legs spread apart.

Kakashi lowered his head so that it was behind the book. Sadly, she looked like something right out of the pages in front of him with her messy hair, half closed eyes and provocative position.

He could tell what she was up to. Why did she always feel the need to _prove_ her point?

"I have no doubt that you'd be quite good at seducing a man," he said hurriedly. When the sound of her zipper slowly moving caught his attention, he couldn't help but peek over his book to see her revealing too much skin and the soft curves of the top of her breasts.

"Tell me then, why would you never let me do that?" Sakura leaned forward, and placing an open hand over the pages of his book, forced it down so that he could see her. Her voice was low and sensual.

_Oh, she's good…_

"Because…" _I'd never let an enemy touch you that way without killing him after._ "…you aren't suited for it. You're a medic."

Sakura hiked up her zipper quickly, taking away his eyeful, and sat down on her heels. "I see. You don't think I have the skills to get a man to give up something."

Kakashi pulled his book back up in front of his face. "No. I'm quite sure you do."

With a loud sigh and a kick of sand, Sakura was up on her feet, grabbing up her pack. "Lets just go. I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means snuggling up to some slimy, dirty, nasty trader to get it back."

"If you insist," Kakashi said offhandedly as he stood up as well, slipping his book back in his pack. But even as he placated her, just the thought of letting her be touched by someone else was not sitting well.

* * *

They continued on and managed to get to the gates of the Golden Village by early evening. Sakura was beyond hungry now, and Kakashi seemed quieter than he had in the morning. Something was definitely up. 

Sand had seemed to get into everything while crossing the desert and if Sakura was dehydrated earlier, it was nothing compared to now. The heat of the desert was something foreign to people from a place as lush as Leaf. She swore she'd never get used to it; the grit was rough on her skin, and grated in her mouth when she clenched her teeth.

The sight of brightly lit signs bombarded their senses, and the smells of cooking food drifted from open-air restaurants everywhere. Scantily clad women sporting Tsunade-sized bosoms treaded up and down the street winking their long fake eyelashes and blowing kisses through blood-coloured lips.

They gravitated immediately toward the unmasked Kakashi, chanting that they'd give him a discount and that Sakura could watch or participate – his choice.

Sakura shook her head as the copy-nin played demure with an overly large grin.

When they moved farther into the casino town, they found the gambling house they were looking for. Ten-foot mermaid statues that had shells for bathing suit tops flanked the large, gold-painted doors. The Casino was called the _Oasis_ and Sakura sneered at the tack of bikini-clad women handing out drinks amid the ringing pachinko machines near the entrance.

"Should we go in?" she asked Kakashi who was trying his best not to stare at the strategically placed shells on a waitress' 'uniform.'

He cleared his throat, and then shook his head. "Disguises."

"What?"

"If we look like ninja, we won't get anywhere." He actually had to turn around to refocus.

"So what do you propose we look like?"

"Not sure. We'll need some regular clothes and maybe a simple back-story."

"What sort of back-story?" Sakura didn't even try to hide the exhaustion.

"Not sure yet. I've never been on an undercover mission." Kakashi looked up to the sky and scratched his chin in thought. "Anyway, I presume you've still got cash stuck to you somewhere or another?"

The tired medic rubbed at her eyes and then started walking. "Never undercover?"

Kakashi rambled as he followed her slowly, "I stick out. I'm just not suited for it. My areas of expertise lay elsewhere."

Sakura nodded half in thought. "I assume you are talking about your place of choice for assassinations."

Kakashi shrugged. "No disguise needed."

On their travels, they came to a clothing store in an open-air market. They went straight for the racks of cheap yukata. Kakashi chose dark blue, and Sakura chose a softer blue.

After, they wandered back toward the casino and managed to get a room in a higher priced hotel across from the gaudy double doors of their objective. It was a large, clean room where the bedspread matched the curtains and the carpet. Two white fluffy bathrobes were folded on the end of the king size.

"Nice," Sakura breathed out, shivering happily in the cool of the air conditioning.

"Let's get dressed, and then we should talk about how we are going to go about this tonight. You go first."

Kakashi plopped his bag down on the bed and began to rifle through it. The plastic bag with his yukata was tossed beside it, and Sakura began to feel a little anticipation of seeing what he'd look like in one. She'd never seen him in anything but his jounin greens or his funeral blacks.

"So…what are you going to do about…you know?" She pointed to her right eye while raising her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Eye patch," he mumbled without turning around, pulling the small black patch from his backpack and tossing it on the bed.

Sakura nodded, even though he didn't see, and then turned to slip into the bathroom. With grit and the dryness of sand-dust covering her body, she couldn't find any good reason not to take a shower

Cranking up the hot water to full blast, Sakura stepped into the spray after shedding her dusty ninja clothes and just stood there. The dirt and sand from the run through the wilds of the desert dripped around her feet and down the silver drain. It was almost refreshing, almost giving her back her energy and self-respect to just feel clean again. The hangover seemed gone.

After using the sweet complimentary shampoo, and the French-milled soap, Sakura got out and dried off with a large fluffy white towel. She wrapped the wet one around her hair and a dry one around her body.

When she opened the bathroom door to slip out, clutching her clothes, the blast of cold air-conditioned air hit her body, making her tremble.

First she spotted what she was looking for – bathrobe. Next, she spotted what she didn't expect to see. Kakashi was slumped in a large chair near the window holding his hand over his eyes. He had removed his shirt, mask, headband and shoes, folding them neatly on the end table.

For the longest moment, Sakura couldn't stop staring, and couldn't continue to find…that thing…that she was sure she came out for… but couldn't remember exactly what it was.

A few scars mottled his pale skin on his abdomen and shoulder. A particularly jagged one was on his back left side. They were old scars, maybe some as old as her. He looked so…naked, so not Kakashi. It never occurred to her before how clothed he always was, covering up 90 or more of his body all the time.

"Oh." He looked up and seemed like he shook himself awake a little. Sakura was sure he wasn't dozing, but he must have been close for not noticing she emerged. When his eyes refocused on her, he snapped his sharingan shut while the other widened.

"Uh…your turn," Sakura said, aware that the towel around her was fairly short. Instinctively, her hand tugged on the bottom edge a little along her outer thigh, dropping her clothes on the bed.

"Hm," he said quietly, then stood up and walked past her. Sakura got a shiver again as he breezed past and tried to chock it up to the air-conditioning again. It had been a long time since she had been nearly naked with anyone.

But the bathroom door clicked shut, and he was gone.

The spray of the shower and the intermittent hum of the air-conditioner were the only sounds left in the room. For reasons she was aware of, Sakura was suddenly happy to be alone. The last few days had been unfocused, confusing, and down right foolish. She wasn't this stupid. She wasn't this careless. She needed a little time to herself to think, and to get herself together.

She really wasn't this inept.

Gently, she picked up the cool fabric of the light blue yukata, running her hands along the crisp clean material. Dropping the towel from around her, she pulled her bra on and then slipped the yukata on overtop. It felt light and comfortable – something she missed lately. She felt human again for just a moment.

Digging around in her pack, she found the last pair of clean cotton panties she had brought. Tomorrow, she'd have to wash the others.

Wandering over to the full-length mirror on the closet door of the room, she stared at herself as she tugged the towel off her hair.

Tonight, she couldn't screw up. She'd do anything to get the scroll back. She'd do anything to prove that she was capable – to herself, and to him. She wanted Kakashi to be impressed…even if he could never be serious about her the way she wanted him to.

Resolve seemed to grow out of that need, and she reached into her pack on the bed again and pulled out a leg strap for a kunai. Even if she had to kill someone, she'd get it back. Even if she had to sleep with someone…

Tugging up her hem, she put her foot on the bed and worked on strapping the kunai holster to her high upper thigh.

As if he had timed it perfectly, Kakashi emerged from the steamed up bathroom in just his black pants. Of course, he didn't expect the first thing he saw to be a slender thigh and a glimpse of cotton panty, but he supposed there were worse sights.

Sakura didn't even raise her head. She just continued to strap on the kunai, feeling more serious than she had in days.

"I don't know if you should bring that," Kakashi said quietly as he walked closer to the bed.

Sakura let out a deep breath and glanced at him. "I want to be prepared…for anything." Her voice was soft and Kakashi recognized the resignation in it. Sadly, it seemed that she might be blaming herself again.

"Anything? I don't expect we'll have to kill anyone tonight. He's just a trader and a Casino owner, not Yakuza." Kakashi wandered around near her as she let her foot drop to the floor.

Sakura eyed him and then glanced away. "Let's just make up a back-story and go. I don't want to waste any more time."

Kakashi smiled a little. She was getting serious, and he was glad to see it. "Okay. Honeymoon? Vacation?"

"I was thinking more like sordid tryst."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Why sordid?"

Sakura shrugged and stuffed her clothes into her pack on the bed. "I just like the way that sounds - secretive lovers slipping away to be together. It's dirty, but romantic. Besides, we wouldn't have to explain the lack of wedding bands and why we keep a low profile."

Kakashi nodded a little. "That sounds fine. It might not even come up, but I guess we should try it on a little."

If Sakura's head spun any faster to him, Kakashi was quite sure it would have popped off.

"Try it on?"

The copy-nin took a deep breath. He didn't think he'd get that kind of reaction from her, but he supposed she didn't expect that either. If they were going to look like a couple, he just wanted them to get the comfort issues out of the way. People in love touched, held hands, kissed. People on a mission had to look the part.

"We should display a level of intimate comfort with each other, but if it makes you too uncomfortable..."

Sakura played with the ends of her hair a little and looked at his perfect mouth. _What the hell, I'll just make out with him for a bit before we go. That'll take the edge off. _"I'm not…uncomfortable. I've never done an undercover mission before either so I'm sure we should prepare in some way."

Kakashi creased his brow, and closed his sharingan. Eyeing her with chakra bouncing in front was just not working. With his normal eye, he took a long look at her and tilted his head a little.

"Its all right. I'm sure we'll be fine." He moved to grab his yukata and get dressed, but Sakura's hand grabbed his arm with weak fingers.

"I…want to…try it on," she said softly. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but the adrenaline was making her knees weak slightly. The burn in her face was probably quite obvious to him, but hell, you only live once.

"I think I should just get dress…" Kakashi began.

But Sakura had taken a step up to him and placed both her hands on his shoulders. Gingerly, she tightened her fingers, running them down along the contours of his arms. His bare skin was warm from the hot shower, and still had the feeling of dampness along it.

"Tell me what you want to do," she urged quietly.

Kakashi watched her green eyes as they traced his throat and down his chest. The feel of her fingers smoothing over his ANBU tattoo and tickling his skin gave him a slight shiver. When she leaned forward and brushed her lips on his collarbone, he was all in – mission or not.

"We just need to look…comfortable with something intimate." He forced his voice to be even, businesslike.

"Like touching?" she whispered against the curve of his throat. "A brush of lips?"

Her breath was like a cool touch that reached down into his chest. Her fingers continued to trace along his skin and inadvertently, his own found the small of her back, pulling her a little closer. The scent of the sweet shampoo in her damp hair and the smell of her skin were enticing.

Sakura rose up on her toes and kissed Kakashi's jaw line, moving with soft touches of her lips until she reached the corner of his mouth. How hard it was to hold back, but the opportunity to be close to him, to kiss him was finally there. Maybe it was the only time she would get to? It had to count, had to be worth remembering because she might not ever get the chance again.

"A kiss…maybe?"

Ever so slowly, she ran both hands up his hot skin until she reached the nape of his neck. His hair was wet and cool as she slid her fingers into it, tugging the strands gently. Inching back, she looked at his one open eye which returned her gaze with some manner of emotion, although she couldn't tell what. It didn't matter at that moment.

"I've been waiting for this," Sakura let slip without thinking about the ramifications. She _had _been waiting for it. And if she was anything, it was honest, and maybe a little too forthcoming. Once the words were out, there was no pulling them back in.

Not waiting to see his reaction, she pressed her mouth hard to his before he changed his mind.

Kakashi had almost hesitated at her words. Curiosity had gotten the better of him to suggest that they practice intimacy before going to the casino, but he underestimated how she would react. It was a bit of a lie on his part that they needed to, and perhaps he did want to try it on for size for his own reasons – to be somewhat honest with himself.

But no matter what those reasons were, they were banished from his head the split second her soft lips touched his.

Sakura tightened her arms around Kakashi's neck, pulling their bodies close and ensuring that he couldn't get away. All the while, she found a delirious rhythm in the kiss, sweeping her warm tongue over his and enjoying the surge of desire with his reciprocation.

A hand slid over her behind and gripped her thigh. It was enough to make her groan a little.

Maybe it was the noise, or maybe it was a small ray of conscience that crept into Kakashi's head, but he suddenly loosened his hold on her with a slight jerk, disengaging their kiss, and their tangled position.

It ended too soon for Sakura, but it was worth it. He kissed as great as she imagined. At least she would have that to tuck away in her memory. Too bad he seemed like he wanted to get away.

"Was that satisfactory?" she said evenly, trying not to heighten his inner conflict over what they just did.

Kakashi lightly rubbed his mouth with his hand, almost as if he was making sure he was still feeling things the way he should. He opened both eyes and nodded slowly. "I think we…could pass as lovers."

Sakura turned back to the bed and nodded as well, trying to appear as if it was just a pre-trial for their run through the casino. On the inside, she was just as conflicted over his reaction, but he didn't need to know that.

Lifting one foot to the bed, she hiked her hem back up and started working on the leg strap again. Sure she was revealing too much leg, but what the hell. She'd just had the best kiss of her life. If he wanted to throw her on the bed and have his way with her, well that was just fine too.

Kakashi ran his eyes over her skin, and then rubbed at his eyes roughly. "Okay, give me five minutes to get in my clothes and we'll go."

Sakura turned and sat down on the bed as Kakashi grabbed the bag with the yukata in it and bee-lined for the bathroom. As he closed the door, and thwarted temptation, he heard her voice drift from the other room.

"I'll wait right here on the bed for you, Kakashi."

Kakashi sighed heavily, and ran the cold water into the sink before dunking his face in.

_Goodbye focus._

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I am still working on this story and it should be done in a couple of chapters. Thanks to the reviewers and icarust for the quick betaing. I believe the next chapter will come much quicker. 


	10. Whatever Necessary

A Lesson in Chemistry - Chapter...whatever, can't remember.

_Whatever Necessary_

* * *

When Kakashi finally emerged from the hotel bathroom, cool-faced and _somewhat_ collected, Sakura was already waiting by the door. The playfulness of their very recent closeness had vanished, and she appeared to be all business by the blatant concentration on her pretty face – much to his relief (and the chagrin of his libido). He was worried that the kiss would distract them. Well, at least one of them was focused now so that was something. 

"If you keep that up, you'll get wrinkles," Kakashi said with a straight face.

Sakura's look softened a little, but she didn't fall into the expected girlish retort or even the quick temper that he could easily and frequently arouse.

At her uncharacteristic lack of reaction, the copy-nin wandered over to her and gave a small lift of his chin in question.

In response, Sakura looked over his yukata and smiled coolly while waving his concern away. But when she met his gaze, a wrinkle formed between her eyes again. For a moment, she just stared at the out-of-place black eye-patch.

"I don't think is going to work," she said quietly as she slipped her thumb under the band and tugged it off his head. She tossed it to the bed and then ran her fingers into his messy bangs with a small shake, bringing them down over his sharingan. "Less conspicuous. You get enough stares without that patch. I can't imagine the attention with it."

Kakashi's lazy eyes closed slightly while he smirked. "I thought it made me look dangerous."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Aye aye, Captain."

It didn't take an eye-patch to make him look dangerous, just a little conscious effort and a little less pocket stuffing of his fists.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, somewhat pleased that he didn't have to wear it.

* * *

Days from then, Sakura would try to remember the walk down the hallway, down the 3 flights of stairs or out of the lobby, but it would never come to her. Being in such deep concentration through those moments leading up to their small mission had wiped the trivialities from her mind – even that perfect kiss. 

Now standing outside the casino with Kakashi next to her, she knew that she would do whatever she had to in order to retrieve that scroll. In all her years as a shinobi, Sakura had never had an undercover mission, had never been in a position to have to use her female persuasion and body for a goal. Tonight she'd do it if it furthered things. She only hoped that her quarry wouldn't be too repulsive – but of course, with her luck…

Without waiting for Kakashi to move, she made quick steps into the building. The ring of the pachinko machines and the yell of winning streaks and moans of losing met her ears. The harsh sounds seemed to reverberate inside her head, and she hated the metallic scent of the dirty coins, rubbed by millions of sweaty fingers, hanging in the cooled air of the casino. Why did Tsunade like the aroma of dirty sweaty gambling so much? Sakura had wondered that every time she was dragged into somewhere like this.

In her opinion, it smelled like losing – which, incidentally, Tsunade always did.

Without trying now, she could sense Kakashi on her heels. It seemed like he was so much easier to detect presence-wise since their chakra connection in the bar the day before. Hair on her arms would stand when he was within a foot or two, and she had actual tingles at any connection of skin. Of course, the kiss made things worse, but she'd have to examine that one at a later time.

Excited patrons and flashing lights fought for her attention but managing to keep her mind off the din and the man behind her, Sakura stopped and focused. It was then that she said a little louder than she'd meant to as they passed through the entrance, "I think we should split up and find this Shin guy."

Kakashi bent lower to try to keep their conversation more covert as they shuffled away from a group of women laughing and squealing about their winnings.

"Why don't we recon for ten minutes and meet at the back of the room….uh…where I can see a gecko on top of some blinking lights. Do you see it?" Kakashi had straightened up to peer over the mess of machines and heads to spy a grotesque beast of a lizard spinning slowly on the far side of the massive room.

Sakura joined him by lifting up onto her tiptoes. "I see it. Ten minutes." And with that, she breezed away from her partner without a glance back or even a 'good luck'.

Kakashi just leisured for a moment, watching her navigate away from him through the throng of men and women anxiously staring wide-eyed at machines. With all the chaos around, he was enjoying just watching the movement of her soft blue yukata against her calves and the contrast of her unusual pink hair. "Hm, she's all business tonight," he mumbled to himself – slightly impressed, slightly put-out. He knew she had it in her; it was just nice to see it becoming easier for her to be.

"Oh, yeah," he said next, and spun on his heel to take a different route. Of course, he couldn't forget he was on a mission…

* * *

After slipping through the patrons and narrowly avoiding a tray of drinks to the face by a clumsy bikini-clad waitress, Sakura stopped for a moment to take in the size and scope of the room. It was cold from the multitude of chrome vents blasting out frigid air from the ceiling, and the flashing lights were a nonstop visual assault from every direction. Lines and lines of machines sitting on the noisiest carpet she'd ever seen (including the orange one in the last hotel room) drew her eyes to the back of the room. At least there was a lack of drunken Hokage with money to burn making her fret this time. 

It wasn't hard to envision Tsunade hunched over a card game in one of the areas she'd walked by. She'd seen that pathetic view at least a hundred times too many.

While she worked on her next move, she saw a man at a table who looked a little like what her imagination had come up with to go along with the name Kogane Shin. Burly and well dressed, he laughed and drank while surrounded by people hanging on his every word. His dark hair was thinning on top, and he seemed a little younger than she imagined – forty or so by her estimation. All in all, he wasn't completely repulsive. He looked clean. If it had to go _that way_….well, she could….just close her eyes. Maybe the shine from his bald-spot would blind her…

Unfortunately for her, the man was enjoying a great deal of attention from a number of attractive women so it was going to take some real charming to get near him, or so Sakura figured. Seemed like every gold-digger from Sand was grinning through red painted lips and touching his arm lightly, covertly tugging him closer to them and away from the one on the other arm.

It made her ill to think she would have to become one of those women for a little while. But plucking up courage and beginning to make her plan, Sakura had just taken the first step toward her objective when a waitress carrying drinks flew by, banging into her and toppling the tray in a crash of glass and liquid onto a nearby machine.

"Damn it!" the young woman growled as one of the glittering gold coin-like decorations on her bikini caught on Sakura's yukata sleeve.

"I'm – a - sorry," Sakura replied hurriedly and insincerely, still trying to keep an eye on her target and remove the underdressed waitress from her clothing at the same time.

"Stop shifting! You'll pull my shirt off!" the waitress shouted, grabbing Sakura's shoulder a little too roughly.

The forceful touch of a stranger made Sakura stop moving and turn her full attention to her current mess. She met the woman's eyes, narrowing her own. "If that's a shirt, then I'm the Kazekage," she scoffed.

"The Kazewhat?" the waitress hissed from bared teeth, managing to finally unhook herself. "Listen, why don't you watch where you are going or next time I'll…"

"You'll what?" a very deep voice suddenly asked from beside the tussling women.

Sakura and the waitress both turned their heads abruptly to a man who had come upon them without their knowing. Sakura felt particularly dismayed at her lack of attention, but worse still when she noticed her burly target had left the immediate area.

"Ssssshit," she hissed under her breath, and shot the pair a glare.

The waitress bowed slightly though, and hurriedly began to placate the man, "I'm so sorry, Kogane-sama." She then very quickly bowed to Sakura and offered a mumbled insincere apology before an attempt to slink away.

_Double shit!_

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to find a smile. She looked up at the man who she had been searching for and realized that sometimes, even in the worst circumstances, a small ray of light can shine through like the dawn of the perfect day. Suddenly, her smile came much easier and her anger dissipated as if it was never there. Even the waitress didn't matter anymore.

Somewhere, at some time in her twenty-one years of life, she must have done something right.

Standing beside her, dressed in a dark brown western suit and dripping with sexuality was a hell of a handsome man. Kogane Shin had dark hair to his shoulders, dark brown eyes, and gently tanned skin. He couldn't have been more than twenty-eight.

"I apologize for the waitress. She's new. Did she injure you? Can I offer you a drink on the house, or perhaps I can escort you to one of our gambling tables…?"

Kogane Shin stood close and smiled wide at Sakura. He seemed comfortable to let his eyes rove her face and throat, but was smooth enough not to go any farther down.

Sakura took in his lean tall frame and the perfectly manicured nails of the hand that he extended to her.

"Sexku…Sa… Sakura…my name is Sakura," she managed.

"That's lovely," he said warmly and then smiled, raising one side of his mouth a little higher than the other. "What brings you to my casino, may I ask? I haven't seen you before. I'm sure I would have noticed you."

She inadvertently made a quiet noise that sounded like something between a giggle and a squeal before she could answer. "I…yuu…I'm on vacation and your gambling house was recommended to me by the hotel I'm staying at." She couldn't help how wide her smile was getting. Most likely he could see her back fillings now.

"Wonderful, Sakura. I'm so pleased you chose me." His dark eyes creased when he grinned and he kept his voice low so he had to bend near her ear.

Had she been smiling before? Her cheeks hurt now. His smile was cocky and sexy like…someone else she knew…but she couldn't quite remember at the moment…

"Sakura?" another familiar voice asked from a few feet away making her head turn to him quickly.

"Oh….yeah….uh…" she stammered, glancing over at Kakashi who stood about 5 feet away looking mildly puzzled – which was so odd on Kakashi that Sakura was sure she'd never forget the look.

"My apologies," Shin said congenially, "I didn't know you were already with someone. Would your ….uh…."

"My uh…." Sakura looked at Kakashi and thought of their plan. Lovers…yeah, right, lovers. _Stick to the plan… stick to the plan_… _stick to the… wow, what a nice smile…_

Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose, and his mouth became a tight line of question.

But without knowing what it might lead to, Sakura chose the path for the mission on her own. She could apologize later. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, she reasoned, although Kakashi's look was telling her that she'd get neither.

Turning her wide eyes back to the attention-worthy Kogane Shin, she gave her flirtiest smile and began, "Yes, this is my…"

Kakashi crossed his arms and Shin leaned closer to hear.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi and then at Shin.

"He's my…..brother."

_Ooh, Kakashi twitched._

"Hm, you don't look anything alike."

"Imagine that," Kakashi mumbled.

Sakura waved dismissively, half laughing. "Oh, his mother married my father. And he's older than me_…muuuuch_ older." She raised her pink eyebrows to accentuate her point.

"I can see that," Shin said happily.

Kakashi actually choked out a cough.

"Well, Sakura, may I invite you two to have a drink with me in my private room. My assistant is waiting in there for me and I'd love to apologize to you properly. It's the least I can do."

_Bingo._ Sakura could see the type of socializing he wanted when he gazed at her hair and met her eyes for a little longer than the norm. He was interested.

Sakura turned her head to Kakashi. "What do you say, Big Brother?"

Kakashi cleared his throat.

That sounded like a '_you're going to get your skinny ass kicked later for the older remark'_ throat clear. Sakura gave him a pleading look and made him sigh.

"Sure, kid," he relented and walked by her, punching her arm for effect.

"Excellent," Shin laughed, holding his arm out for Sakura to take. "Allow me."

"Certainly," Sakura purred.

It looked like doing _whatever necessary_ might not be a hardship after all.

* * *

So, i'm not dead. lol. I aplogize that its taken me...oh. about a year to post this. It was short because i had to cut the chapter in half as it was running away with itself. The next one is almost done so i should have it posted in a day or two. For the 6 people who might still read this, hope you liked it. 


	11. The Foot of the Mountain

Chapter 11 – The foot of the Mountain

Warning: (just a notice, really) Just a little lime-like content.

* * *

Shin's hand grasped Sakura's delicately, like she was something he didn't want to break. Kakashi's eyes kept dropping down to where their hands touched as he walked behind them a few steps. 

Due to his superior ninja ears, Kakashi could hear all the little come-ons and compliments that the Casino owner showered on his teammate. He was pouring it on thick, and Kakashi vaguely wondered if that sort of flowery bombardment of icing really worked with women of superior intelligence. Surely Sakura would get annoyed with it, just as he was - even if the guy did look like Shiranui Genma fifteen years ago.

Finally they arrived at a set of oak double doors that led onto a small banquet room of some sort. The room had sage-green walls, and a black carpet with gold swirls and leaf-like designs matching the colour of the room. Shin waved them in, but stepped in front of Kakashi to walk behind Sakura.

Absently, Kakashi rubbed the bare spot on his leg where his kunai holster normally resided.

"Do you like it?" Shin hummed to Sakura, bending down so he was close to her ear. "This room is for high stakes gambling and high rollers. I thought you'd enjoy the décor."

A genuine smile crept across Sakura's face as she stared at the far wall lined with large, painted cherry blossoms on intricately twisted branches. It was a stunning display of art and certainly something Shin was quite proud of by his flaunting (of which Kakashi suspected he did quite often).

Clinking glasses drew the Copy-nin's attention to a bar in the corner, which was presently attended by one of the bikini-clad women, and then his eye roved around the room seeing nothing but empty space and five security men – obvious by their desire to show the entire world their muscled forearms crossed tightly over their hulking chests.

Next he noticed the display cases on another wall in the room. With an easy saunter over, wishing he had some pockets to stuff his hands into, Kakashi took in all the goods, artifacts, antiques and masks in the cases. It only took four seconds to zero in on the scroll. But as much as he wanted to just take it, the security trip wires on the cases, and the heavy metal door hanging just above the collection told him that he might lose a hand in the process. He'd have to take some time to work out the obstacles.

Also, seeing the extreme value of some of the other things inside those cases, Kakashi estimated that there were probably obstacles and precautions he couldn't see.

"My assistant will be here with some drinks shortly. Would you care to sit down?" Shin pointed to a corner, which had a traditional low Japanese table with large pillows all around it making it look more like a spot to leisure and drink at than to gamble. He winked at the Sakura, and then glanced indifferently at Kakashi.

Sakura's lips drew into an exaggerated smile and she allowed their host to lead her away, leaving Kakashi to stare longingly at the black scroll. She walked to the table and then sat down as femininely as possible without actually flopping. It was like falling into a bed of feathers, so she couldn't help but stretch out a little. Shin slid right down beside her so closely, their upper thighs touched.

"I'll be honest," Shin began, "My camera security surveillance man noticed you as soon as you walked in the casino. I just happened to be in the surveillance room with him at the time. Of course, I noticed _you_ as well."

Kakashi tensed.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sakura said innocently, predicting the Copy-nin's distress and feeling a little of her own.

"Oh, no, no," Shin laughed and leaned closer, "But your brother made an impression. My security manager had a feeling that he'd seen him somewhere before."

Kakashi clenched his jaw and placed his fingers on the glass case, calculating the cost of losing a digit or two.

"Did you hear that, Big Brother?" Sakura laughed. "Someone was worried about your ugly mug."

Kakashi glanced back behind him to show Sakura his lack of amusement with her continuity at his expense.

Shin's eyebrows creased and he looked from Sakura to Kakashi.

_Ugly? Even I'm attracted to him._

"Is everything all right?" Sakura asked sweetly, worried that their host was eyeing Kakashi so strangely.

Shin waved it away. "Your brother doesn't look very happy to be here. Are you two close? I wouldn't like to get in between you tonight."

A smirk drew across Sakura's face, and she spoke without trying to be discreet. "I really don't think that will be a problem, we aren't close at all. He doesn't particularly like me. You could probably throw me on the floor and have your way with me, and he wouldn't care."

"Reaaaallllly," Shin drawled, moving very close to Sakura, feeling strongly that she just offered him an invitation to the party he was hoping for.

Almost on cue (in Kakashi's opinion- perfect timing), a door at the back of the room that blended perfectly in as part of the wall opened up and another man entered.

"Kogane-sama," a short, young, balding man with bottle-bottom glasses dressed in a blue suit squeaked as he totted into the room holding a tray with a bottle and some glasses in one hand, and an open book in the other. "My apologies for the delay. This book came in today and I haven't been able to put it down. It wasn't worthy for trade so I though I'd have a peek before it got pitched."

"What's it about, Katsu?" Shin asked, clearly not really interested as his eyes still rested on Sakura. Kakashi, on the other hand, had taken an _avid_ interest.

"Well, it's about…Oh dear! What's that?" the assistant exclaimed as he rubbed his the back of his neck and turned to find a white-haired man leaning over him so close that he could feel chin stubble on his nape. "Do…do you mind?" he breathed out in offense.

Kakashi seemed to shake himself from the impulse to grab the blue autographed special edition Icha Icha paradise from the assistant's hand and run from the room, leaving Sakura to her own plan and he to some catch up time with his precious long lost reading material.

"It seems your brother has taken an interest in it also."

_Oh God, you have no idea_.

"Why don't you get yourself a drink at the bar," Shin motioned to Kakashi to go away in no uncertain terms. Kakashi scratched his head and looked mildly uninterested at the scantily clad waitress giving him eyes over a sake bottle, and then back to the blue book.

Sakura smiled widely as Shin reached for a deck of cards on the table, his other hand crawling to the small of her back as her _brother_ finally had his attention elsewhere.

"How about a game of hanafuda? You know, its known as Sakura in Hawaii. I think it might be your lucky game."

Hanafuda…. Sakura was familiar with it and felt quite confident but didn't want to get mired down in a long card game. It seemed he was trying to stretch out the evening.

"That game takes quite a while…uh, doesn't it? We won't have time to enjoy your lovely casino. I was hoping to win a little something to buy a new kimono before we left," Sakura sweetly, putting on the big green doe-eyes for his benefit.

"Don't worry. I won't let you leave without a little something or other," Shin said softly, leaning so close she could feel his breath on her ear. But remembering himself, he turned back to look at the less than amused brother sitting at the bar on the other side of the room with his arms now crossed and his visible eye fixed in a low stare at him. "My assistant just brought in something from my special private collection." He waved the balding man over, who was still staring at the open pages in obvious delight.

"You don't have to go to that all trouble for me," Sakura nudged her companion, a convincingly alluring smile on her pink lips. In response, Shin's fingers crawled around her back and gripped her side, pulling her closer.

"Well, perhaps you can pay me back somehow," he whispered seductively as he reached for the bottle.

Sakura fought rolling her eyes_. That was subtle…_

_Imbecile,_ Kakashi thought to himself.

The unusually shaped vessel that looked more like a woman's outline than a bottle was pulled closer to them, and the assistant keenly placed glasses out for three without looking away from the pages. After his quick domestic duty, Katsu slid over to a table near the bar and sat down, still reading.

Kakashi was slightly impressed, but only a little. Until Katsu killed someone while having his face glued in the book, the Copy-nin felt he still held the title.

"This, Sakura, is a special drink from Sand. It's fermented from a very special berry found in only the most remote places. The berry is black and sweet, and only grows in tiny amounts. The picking season lasts only one day a year. This is very precious and very hard to acquire. I have yet to try it, and I'd love it if you'd try it with me. I understand it makes you feel exquisite with just one glass." Shin's voice fell lower. "Would you like to feel _exquisite_?"

"You read my mind, Shin-_kun_." They both giggled warmly to each other as if they'd already been drinking.

Kakashi managed to keep his straight face in tact, desperately fighting the eye-roll. He knew Sakura was pouring it on thick for Shin, but she didn't have to enjoy it so much. Either way, he'd stand by his thought earlier today about not letting anyone touch her without death being the end result.

Absently, he tested a toothpick that he'd grabbed from a cup on the bar for strength and sharpness.

Sakura's eyes glanced to Kakashi's fingers, quite aware of what he was thinking.

"Would you like a drink? I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name," Shin snapped his fingers in Kakashi's direction.

"Oh, Iruka," Sakura spat out smartly, "I didn't mention his name. I'm so rude," she laughed a little. Mission or not, she couldn't resist pushing Kakashi's buttons as he was reacting so much better than her inner-flirt had ever hoped for.

"Rude is certainly not a word I'd use to describe you, Sakura," Shin hummed as he began pouring the drinks.

"I can think of a word," Kakashi quipped from the bar.

Slowly, Shin carefully placed a glass in front Sakura and one in front of himself. They were tiny little sherry glasses with long stems accented in gold edging, and etched flowers. Shin proceeded to fill them up with the opaque black liquid.

As Kakashi watched from his barstool, he could see the small light of Sakura's chakra climbing the stem of the glass as she playfully ran a finger around the rim, thanking Shin and smiling, easily drawing his attention to her mouth.

_Oh, she's good_, he thought to himself – and not for the first time on the mission.

But before she drank it, Sakura got up and excused herself pleasantly, saying something about freshening up or some such female reason. Kakashi knew she had probably taken a sample of the drink to double check. At least she was keeping her head, he thought vaguely.

But a tingle up his spine told him he wasn't the only one watching her. He turned back to see the way in which Kogane watched her walk to the washroom. It told Kakashi that he'd end up having to kill him before the night was over. It was more than a little dirty; it was down right hungry_. Toothpick through the eye should do it._

With a deep sigh to try and clear some nagging in his head, Kakashi decided to placate his perturbation by staring at the woman behind the bar. Another jingling bikini covered in fake gold coins kept attracting his eye and ears anyway, so he spun on the barstool.

It was Sakura's fault and that kiss that kept him from keeping his mind on the mission and not getting caught up in how much he hated what she was doing.

Undercover missions were for trained ninja who could look away from what the other was doing and not let it affect what was happening. Kakashi just wasn't one of those ninja. Years of being in teams made him protective – maybe too protective? He just couldn't let it go on while he watched. How could she look at him after if he let her compromise herself? There were other ways to succeed.

The bartender smiled sultrily. "What can I get you, Sir?" she said as she leaned over the bar, putting her chin on her hand and giving Kakashi her full attention.

"Just ice water."

"Big spender," she laughed too happily, showing all her perfectly white straight teeth between dark red lips. "It's all complimentary, so you can have anything you want. And I do mean a_nything._"

"I'd just like to keep my wits about me, thanks. It's no fun if you can't remember all the interesting things you did all night, don't you think?" Kakashi shrugged a little as if it should have been obvious to her.

"Well I definitely agree with that." She poured him water and dropped an ice cube in it with silver tongs.

Plotting alternate ways to achieve their objective before it was too late, Kakashi turned his dark eye back to the case containing the scroll and all their misery. He spun again on the stool and leaned back on the bar, putting an elbow up on the mahogany bar-top in a lazy posture, hiding he fact that he was still making plans.

There was just too much security to chidori the box and run. They would have to run nonstop if he grabbed it, and that's _if_ they got out of the casino without a fight. Maybe her way would be easier, but nevertheless, it was not the way he ever wanted the mission to go.

Kakashi's eye moved back up to the washroom door, wondering what the hell Sakura was doing in there so long. When his gaze snapped back to the table, Shin was staring at him. It was only a moment before the attractive trader got up and walked over to the bar – strutting actually, in Kakashi's opinion.

The ninja scratched his leg again.

"Care for a drink, Iruka?" Shin said coolly.

"Got one, thanks," Kakashi replied, equally as cool while lifting the water in a tiny salute.

"So who is she? And who are you?" Shin said in a low voice, turning also to lean on the bar just like Kakashi but not taking a seat.

"She already told you," Kakashi answered dryly. Obviously Shin was more on the ball than they'd hoped.

"You certainly aren't her brother. I can tell by he way you stare at her. My guess is you are…a bodyguard of some sort? You look bored, but your eye follows her everywhere. That scar is probably not an accident either." Shin gestured slightly to Kakashi's drooping bangs. "The pissed look fits as well."

_This is why I don't do undercover. Assassinations are so much easier. In fact…_

"You're just too smart for me," Kakashi said with a hint of sarcasm. "So what now?"

"Tell me who she is. She must be someone important if she's got _insurance _following her around. And better still, how much is she worth?" Shin's fingers rubbed together like he was feeling greasy money notes.

Kakashi turned a little and looked him in the eye. "If you're thinking about kidnapping her, I'd advise against it."

"Not at all. I was just wondering if I could bring in some money _through_ her. Don't worry. I won't get you in trouble with whoever the powers that be are, and she'll have the time of her life with me. So tell me, who is she?"

Kakashi watched Sakura walk out of the bathroom, running her hands through her hair before the shocked look of seeing them talk hit her like a slap.

Inner Kakashi smirked a little_. Well, two can play the game of make up your own mission._

"You caught me. She's a wealthy Trader's daughter from the Fire Country – but don't tell her I told you." He shrugged and held his hands out innocently, spilling his water a little. "I'm just hired muscle. Her daddy lets her come and pretend to be grown up. He's a very powerful man there so we do whatever he asks. She's just finding herself, making mistakes. You know, getting _dirty_." Kakashi laughed a little.

"Oh, yeah? Excellent. You know, I had guessed this." Shin shrugged as well.

_Hm, nope, dumb._

Kakashi smirked and leaned back on the bar casually. "I just do it for the money. And as I'm sure you know _very_ well, everyone has their price."

Shin wasn't oblivious to the insinuation.

"That's what I like to hear, Iruka. How about we make a deal? I'll give you your choice from the cases, and you make yourself scarce for the night." Shin mumbled, trying to be nonchalant and covert as he looked at Sakura, who was now back at the pillow surrounded table looking akin to a deer in headlights.

"Let me think about it," Kakashi almost whispered looking at her as well.

Shin put his empty glass on the bar after downing the contents and then stood back up to go to Sakura. "Don't take too long. As I'm sure _you _know, every offer has an expiration."

A little lift of his chin showed Kakashi's understanding. All the cards were on the table. The winning play was on the chessboard and the next move was his…but could he sacrifice the queen for what they needed?

Taking a deep breath, he took his eyes off the happy couple, trying to work out what came next. As his gaze met the balding assistant, his plans became concrete. First, he decided, that he'd get a little something for himself for all his trouble. No one could begrudge him that, could they? "Hey there, how is that book?" he called over happily, while wandering closer to the stunned assistant.

"Oh," Katsu squeaked, pushing his glasses up his nose with the tip of his thumb. "It's very…uh…detailed. Fantastic really."

"Want to see something better?" Kakashi asked casually as he leaned on the wall near Katsu, practically shivering with anticipation from being so close to the book again.

"Better than this? Sure." Katsu's eyes widened with intrigue.

Kakashi leaned close and brushed the bangs away from his eye.

"Ah look," Shin said sweetly to Sakura, "They're making friends, your brother and my assistant."

"Yeah, looks like they are," Sakura laughed nervously, then slid her hand over Shin's and tried to keep his attention all on her – which wasn't really a problem. Of course, the hand on her thigh, under the yukata was a dead give-away of his interest.

"Why don't I take you somewhere a little more private? I have a private room just through that door in the back. I'd love to show you some more of my collection," Shin breathed against her neck, planting a few baby kisses there for effect between words.

"I…I…would…uh...like…" Sakura began, starting to doubt the oath she swore that she would do anything to get the scroll. Butterflies writhed in her stomach and it started to burn. "I would like…"

"…A drink." Kakashi finished for her as he plopped down on the other side of the table and smacked the heavy book down beside himself.

Shin looked at the red slashed circle, lovingly caressed under Kakashi's hand, and then furrowed his perfect brow.

With a smile and keen anticipation of what Shin was thinking, Kakashi answered his thoughts, "Oh, your friend was finished with it. Seemed to think I'd like it better."

Sakura's teeth began to cut through her lower lip.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. Did you want something?" Shin said with a tone of impatience as he flicked his fingers in a 'go away' motion to Kakashi.

"You offered me a drink, Kogane. I suddenly felt a little thirsty, so here I am." Kakashi leaned on the table, his chin on his hand, and smiled that crooked lopsided superhero smile that had grown on Sakura – although somewhat like a fungus at the moment.

"Certainly, I-ru-ka," Shin hissed through a tight smile over clenched teeth. He poured out a third glass of the dark drink.

"What's it called?" Kakashi asked, smelling the sweetness of it just under his nose.

Shin downed his drink. "Itadaki" he replied impatiently, staring at the copy-nin with narrowed eyes.

Sakura's own eyes suddenly went wide. "Ita…daki?" She turned her attention to Kakashi and put a finger up to stop him, but it was too late. The glass in his hand was empty.

"Ohhhnnooo," she said softly. It was a freakishly strong aphrodisiac, and the fastest acting legal intoxicant known to man. A single glass of it was like three of any other drink and practically poured straight into the blood stream. She'd tested it to see potency and toxins in case she drank it. For her, it would be no problem, but for the lightweight, grouchy pseudo-brother across from her…

"Why Itadaki?" Kakashi asked, rubbing his eye and beginning to find it a little difficult to really care. His stomach felt warm, as if someone had tossed a heater in there that was gradually making its way to his limbs, stretching and relaxing them.

"Because it is said to be like looking up from the bottom of the mountain and knowing pleasure only when you get to the peak," Shin smirked, his eyes looking rather lazy as well, but no less hateful of their intruder.

"How about another, _old man_," Shin hissed, refilling the empty glasses.

"Oh, ha, no…he doesn't want anymore, do you!" Sakura laughed and tried to kick Kakashi under the table.

"Only if you are, kid," Kakashi said coolly to Shin, ignoring Sakura as he picked up the glass and downed it along with his new adversary.

"Don't…!" Sakura pointed at Kakashi like a mother to a petulant child.

"Respect your elders, Sakura." By now, Kakashi's words had begun to sound lazy, relaxed…even a little slurred.

"How about another, Pops?" Shin laughed, unable to hold his anger any longer. He tried to pour out another glass, but spilled a dark puddle over the table. Even so, they both picked up their glasses, chuckling somewhat and downed the air in them. Shin practically fell over backwards tipping his head to try and get the nonexistent drops.

Sakura bit her lip, feeling that telltale vein throbbing on her forehead_. At least the lecher is a lightweight too. _"Great, a pissing contest. Wonder who will win?" The sarcasm dripped from her words. She stared at Kakashi, clearly angry that her plan was ruined and that they were no better off. She supposed he'd consider it a win with his precious porn in his drunken hands.

Shin leaned lazily on his elbow and smiled widely at the young girl who he just realized was still beside him. "How about _you_ win, Sakura?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Wha….well…I…." She looked at Kakashi.

"I don't think so," Kakashi shook his heavy head. "We'll just take the scroll in the third case from the bottom now and be on our way before I tell her father about your dirty trades. He really frowns on that. I'd hate for him to send some of his people your way. "

Sakura did a double take at Kakashi. _Did he just say father?_

Shin hitched with a guffaw, but Sakura could see a little calculation going on behind his eyes – as difficult as it seemed to be for him. His palm splayed out as if displaying something standing on the table as he tried to lighten the situation. "Leave her here and you can take anything you want."

Kakashi leaned forward. "That's tough to do because its her I'll be taking."

"Are you saying you want her?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Sakura could see the escalation of male testosterone cutting through their quick intoxication.

_Did he just say he wanted me?_

"And what about the scroll? Wasn't that what you wanted? Wanted more, perhaps? Its very valuable." Shin grinned, looking slightly more devious than just a moment ago. "What's your price, Iruka? Everyone has one."

It was then that Katsu suddenly looked up and seemed to find himself, although still appearing a little lost from his encounter with Sharingan-Kakashi. "Uh, sir? That black scroll is spoken for. We have the…uh…_inja-nay_ coming at _idnight-may_ for it."

"The what at the what?" Shin mumbled, clearly confused.

"Our very special investors? They were _very_ specific about it. They'll be here by midnight." Katsu scratched his head and ran a hand over the space on the table where the book was previously. "Their offer was too good to refuse."

"Oh…Ohhhhh!" Shin's eyes opened wide and he nodded in realization. He turned back to his companions looking sheepish and forgetting Kakashi's rejection of his earlier offer. "Sorry. No-can-do. Pick something else – _anything else_." His eyes traveled back to Sakura and roved her body everywhere but her face.

Clumsily, Kakashi pushed himself up to stand, sliding a little on the large pillows around their feet. He seemed a little perturbed, and much too wobbly, putting his hands up to perform some seals – the blue book tucked securely under his arm. "All right. Here's how it's going to go…"

Sakura gasped.

But the Copy-nin's grand tongue-lashing and possible impending destruction was cut short as yet another person burst into the room by the back end door. It was a larger man, also balding, with some sort of jelly stains on the front of his blue, buttoned-down shirt. He had a headset on with a curly cord hanging from it and Sakura surmised that he must be with camera security.

She smacked her forehead loudly.

"I remember where I've seen that guy before!" the Security person shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the white-haired man. All eyes turned to Kakashi. The security guards flinched and took crouched stances, shocked by the shouting. At least they seemed to be waiting for orders.

"Oops, time to go," Sakura said hurriedly as she stood up and grabbed Kakashi's wrist, tugging him to her and nearly toppling the table in her haste.

The chaos (she would say later) was unimaginable.

"Ah…oh….wai…nooooo," Shin yelled out, watching Sakura run out the door, towing her drunken partner. Furiously, he turned to the security man and turned his palms up to the ceiling. "What the hell?"

The security guard shrugged back. "It was that disgruntled clown from the newspaper. You know, the one from the Sanban Village."

Sakura pulled Kakashi hastily through the throng of gamblers and waitresses. The noise of the machines rang by them as they flew up an aisle toward the glass front doors. Coins rattled in buckets, and people squealed with excitement as they passed.

Kakashi had heard the explanation of the security as to why he recognized him, so he was feeling much better and felt all was not lost. But of course, he couldn't tell Sakura about his altercation in Sanban just for the sheer embarrassment factor.

"Slow down, I don't think they're following us," Kakashi shouted above the din. "Hey, slow down! Its nothing serious."

But Sakura didn't stop until she'd pulled him out into the night air, across the street, and into their hotel lobby. Incessantly she banged on the button for the elevator, growling and mumbling to herself about idiots and their dumb ideas.

Kakashi took a deep breath and leaned on the wall next to her, flipping open his prized book and smiling a little as he read the first colour page.

"I can't believe you are just going to stand there and read! You ass! We could have had it!"

Slowly, Kakashi turned the book around to show Sakura the open page. "Look, its your favorite part," he slurred.

Sakura's cheeks turned red to see a naked woman with a man's head between her legs looking remarkably like she was in pain - but not the bad kind. "Bastard," she mumbled, shoving it away.

The elevator opened and Sakura forced her way through the people coming out, roughly pulling Kakashi in by his yukata collar.

"Easy," he laughed. "Shit, I lost my place."

Sakura banged her forehead on the mirrored elevator wall for three floors until the doors opened. This time she bee-lined for her door, not caring if Kakashi was behind her – which slowly but surely, he was. With a swipe of the room key she had in an inside pocket, she opened the door and bolted in.

Kakashi sauntered after, dropping the book on the table beside the door. "Wow, that stuff is strong," he said while rubbing his eyes and putting a hand on the wall for balance.

"You have no idea. I can't believe you had two glasses! _I_ didn't drink it. That should have been your first clue!" She slumped down on the bed, and put her face in her hands. "It was right there. We could have had it."

"Not that way, Sakura," Kakashi mumbled.

"What other way is there?" she blurted, hands shaking erratically.

"He's shown his interest in you. I'll just go back as a copy of you and I'll use the sharingan on him. They said _idnight-may_, right?" Kakashi shrugged.

"Well…yeah. It's nine-thirty now. That gives us two and a half hours, I suppose." Her voice was a little less shrill but her gut still writhed with worry. "I don't think you'll be able to sharingan him or hold a jutsu," she added, sitting up a little and shaking her head. "I don't even know if the itadaki has completely hit you yet. I can probably try and get some out of your system, but who knows how long before you are incapacitated."

"I don't think there's a need," Kakashi mumbled as he leaned back on the wall for just a second. He could smell her hair from across the room. He wasn't sure of why the sweet strawberry scent was doing things to him, but at the moment it didn't really matter.

Sakura pushed up from the bed angrily. "No need? You're bombed! You can't even stand up!" Stomping over, she pressed a hand to his chest – her chakra delving in. "The level of alcohol in your blood stream is too high. I really need to take some out."

She felt his heart pounding under her hand. A steady increase in the speed of the beats made her look up at him.

"I think you'd better not," he said quietly as he wrapped a hand around her wrist, trying with little effort to disconnect them. "Your chakra feels really…"

His face displayed what she knew was probably going to come around after two drinks of itadaki. It was an aphrodisiac – a potent one. Add their chakra connection with the tingles upon contact and something was guaranteed to be set off.

And he was looking at her so…

"We've got two hours, right?" he whispered, lifting his other hand to stroke her shoulder.

Sakura's knees felt weak suddenly.

"It's just the itadaki, Kakashi," she whispered back, too nervous to meet his eyes.

His voice continued to be low, but he didn't slur. "Do you honestly think that after the last few days?"

Finally, she raised her eyes to his, but he was watching her mouth. A small lick of his lips made her eyes drop as well. Immediately she was reminded of that toe-curling kiss. How had she put that out of her mind? No one had ever kissed her like that…

Just the thought of getting another one forced a smile onto her lips; one side of her mouth rising up as his so often did while discovering that she probably needed to get something out of her system too. She whispered out, "Two and a half hours."

And that was enough.

Before she knew it, Kakashi's hand was at her behind, a fist full of her yukata crushed up in it, pulling her tightly against him. First his mouth was on her throat, trailing wet kisses there. His other hand had slid into her hair, twining in the strands, and tipping her head for better access to all the parts of her he wanted.

"Oh God, that feels good," she breathed out, having forgotten what it was like to have a man completely absorbed in her – if one ever had been like this.

Kakashi managed to push himself up off the door to stand, still keeping her wrapped up in his arms while making his way to kissing her mouth.

It was perfect, deep, and the heat of it reached down to her toes as well as all the places in between. She groaned into his mouth as his lips found a perfect rhythm with her own. His tongue felt cool on hers, the taste of the rich _itadaki_ still lingering there.

Their feet began to move; Sakura could feel him directing them toward the bed, but she did most of the guiding, as he still seemed wobbly. When the back of her legs hit the bed, they fell over. Sakura slid up toward the head of the bed, Kakashi crawling above her.

For a moment, she second-guessed allowing the little sexual interlude happen when she looked at his lazy, inebriated gaze, but it was too late to stop. Even if she wanted to (which she sure didn't) she was powerless to end something that was feeling so good and that she'd be needing for days.

Kakashi's fingers slid into her obi, finding the end and giving it enough of a tug to undo it. He slowly began to lift the fabric from her body, and then reaching to her other side, slid it under her until it came loose enough to tug off.

Of course, she lifted her middle to accommodate him. No sense delaying the fun, she thought vaguely.

He seemed to smile as he ran a finger back up to her yukata collar and teasingly started easing it open, revealing the perfect skin underneath – no bra. He then smiled wider.

A tremble of anticipation ran through Sakura. When his mouth found the spot between her breasts, she hissed and slid a leg over the back of his – rubbing her foot along his calf.

Certainly this did nothing for Kakashi's self-control – what little he had while intoxicated. A woman's breathy sounds could always unravel him. Painfully unable to take it slow, Kakashi sat up a little and ran both hands inside her yukata at her waist. Her skin trembled deliciously under his touch.

He slid his hands up Sakura's sides to her breasts, lightly brushing his fingers over her them, making her nipples harden under his touch. He leaned down, pulling her yukata out of his way, actually trapping her arms under the material at her sides, while his mouth slid over one tight bud.

Sakura moaned as his cool tongue drew circles and flicked her nipple. In response, her fingers slid into his soft hair, tugging lightly and running up from the nape of his neck.

But for a second, when things were getting interesting, Kakashi lost his balance and fell gingerly onto an elbow to one side.

"Whoa," he mumbled, and then righted himself, lying down on her a little more.

"You okay?" she said quietly, trying to sit up a little.

Kakashi flattened his palms onto the bed on either side of Sakura and leaned over, kissing her and making her lie back down. "More than okay," he breathed against the skin of her shoulder where the yukata had slipped off.

He continued to work his way down her body, leaving kisses, licks, sucks and gentle bites in his wake. With each contact, chakra moved between them, charging the connections and making everything that much better.

Sakura actually put her hand in her mouth to stifle the squeal of excitement she wanted to make as Kakashi worked his way down to kiss and run his tongue over the tight skin below her navel, his fingers tightening on her hips at the same time, trapping her under him.

"Remember what you asked me the other day?" Kakashi said while brushing his lips over the top edge of her panties.

"About the…b…book…part?" she responded, trying hard to keep the anticipation out of her voice. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I'll show you why women love it," he said with a hint of a slur against her thigh as his finger hooked into the side of her panties. He tugged just a little, exposing the curve of her hipbone, which he promptly ran his teeth over.

"Oh…. yes," she breathed against her hand.

She felt the heat of his breath as his tongue ran a trail along the lacy edge of her cotton panties, now pulled dangerously low. One of the fingers of his other hand had slid into her panties at the side and was running along the cotton to between her legs.

Sakura's body was responding so strongly to his chakra and his touch that she thought one brush in the right spot was going to make her orgasm. It was hard to just lie there, but hell, if he was going to do all the work, who was she to stop him?

The bed shifted heavily, but Sakura ignored it.

For a few more seconds, Kakashi's attention went back to her, a little less determined than a minute before.

But then something Sakura didn't expect happened. A heavy weight fell on her upper thigh and Kakashi had stopped moving.

_That didn't feel at all like I had imagined…_

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she took a deep breath and sighed. His fingers were still hooked in her underwear; his body splayed out over her lower half.

Listening to the Copy-nin's heavy snores against her leg, she quietly hissed, "Son of a..."

* * *

Sorry that took 2 weeks. I ended up writing it 3 times, and am still not happy. Ah well. Remember not to take it seriously, as i find i can't either. lol. The next chapter is coming along much quicker. 

Thanks for all the nice comments! It really reminded me how much I love fandom! I am thrilled to be involved again.


	12. The Thing Under the Wall

Chapter 12 - The Thing Under the Wall

* * *

"…bitch!" 

Kakashi's light snores, though much nicer than the rumbles Sakura had in her ear the other night, were indicators that he was down for the count. He'd fallen asleep in his drunken stupor, fingers still hooked in her underwear.

With some measure of confused anger, Sakura tugged her yukata over her chest and worked to wriggle free of the man pinning her leg down with his face. There was absolutely no worry about waking him as she figured he consumed the equivalent of six drinks; and for someone who _never_ drinks, that was just overkill.

"You owe me," she mumbled, sitting up on the bed and cocking her head to look at him sleeping there, blissfully ignorant of the deep rooted frustration – sexual and otherwise – he'd caused her.

The night just couldn't get any worse. It seemed that nothing was going to work out at all and she felt overcome with the futility of meeting obstacle after obstacle along the way.

And sadly, had he been able to put it into action, Kakashi's plan probably would have worked. The sharingan was a huge asset on any mission, but they were undercover novices. A medic and a…well, an assassin weren't much good at pretend play. There was just too much reality around them the majority of the time to put up a convincing impromptu show. With no training, they were bound to fail.

For a moment, Sakura sat and eyed the table by the door. The blue book there signified how close they had actually come to achieving some sort of objective, so at least there was that. Of course, she didn't entertain the fantasy that she could stop an invasion with a manga porn book.

"_Hey hold it, everyone! Look. Second best cure for sexual repression!"_

Not likely to work.

But yes, had the Copy-nin been sober, they'd probably be on their way to Sand with a sleek black scroll in their hot little hands after he'd pretended to be her and sharinganed Shin out of his mind and his possession.

As it stood now, she had two hours left to get the scroll back before whomever was on their way to get it would arrive. Sakura had no choice but to employ any tactic she knew…_and_ to do it alone.

And if all else failed, she'd just have to bust the place up and hope for the best.

Rolling off the side of the bed, straightening her yukata and rewrapping her obi, Sakura walked around to the end and leaned over Kakashi. His eyes were closed in a comfortable sleep, and his lips were slightly parted. A hand was resting lightly on his chest and he lay on his back after she'd rolled him off her. Even drunk and passed out, he was a damn fine looking man - probably why it was so hard to be mad at him.

_Oh to be so uncaring for just a moment_, Sakura thought ruefully.

Putting a bent knee up on the mattress, she slipped her arms under his and slid him up to the soft pillow, employing a little chakra in the process.

A rumbling snore came from his drunken smirk, and Kakashi seemed to hum or sing a little something before falling back into deep sleep. Sakura could only shake her head. If only he'd been a little more sober, he'd have probably had her eyes rolling back in her head by now.

Quickly getting dressed in her shin-guards, shorts, medic skirt and red shirt, Sakura tied her headband loosely around her neck. Not as sexy or casual as the yukata, but if it came to cracking heads; she'd need an outfit suited to the task. Couldn't be flashing cotton panties to everyone she kicked in the face now, could she?

While tightening her ponytail, Sakura took one last look at Kakashi who was oblivious to the fact that she'd stripped down to nothing but her underwear in the same room as he slept in – not that it was a mystery to him now, anyway.

With a few quick seals, she transformed into herself in the yukata.

A sigh escaped her.

Where were Naruto and his sexy-no-jutsu when she could really use them?

* * *

The casino was just as she left it, but with an increase in excited patronage. Droves of would-be winners continued to slip in the glass doors in a veritable stampede of rampant gamblers. Obviously, the Oasis was the more popular spot in the Golden Village by far. 

Sakura slipped in with some of the crowd and walked around slowly, making her way toward where she knew the doors were that she had tugged Kakashi out of only a little while ago.

For at least fifteen minutes, she wandered the floor, mindful to stay in the line of sight of the ceiling cameras covered in black domes, sporadically placed everywhere. Sadly, no Kogane Shin had come to find her. She had actually been counting on that.

The decision to make her way back to the cherry blossom room was clearly the only path that presented itself and so she went, still inwardly grumbling that a sharingan would have been a really nice added touch to her lack of a plan.

But nothing was ever easy – not on this mission. If she found a bucket of money right then, she was sure it would have been counterfeit. Simplicity wasn't in the cards and she was starting to expect that things would always take the harder road.

Waitresses streamed by her and people giggled and groaned among the ringing machines. The bikini-clad assailant who crashed into her earlier had flown by, giving her a dirty look for good measure. Of course, the kunoichi returned the favour.

When Sakura finally reached the double doors that hid the room for high-stakes gambling, she placed her hand on the doorknob and hesitated, trying to think of a last covert way to get the scroll. Even if she seduced Shin now, there was nothing to say that he'd give it to her. She had no genjutsu strong enough to fool him like Kakashi did. All Sakura could hope for now was that the answer to her problems would present itself as things went along.

But of course, Karma hated Sakura, much like Sasuke hated his cowlick, much like Naruto hated being second, and much liked Kakashi hated complication.

When the door swung wide and she took a step inside, Sakura found the room was inhabited with at least seven new faces she hadn't seen before, but didn't need an introduction to understand who they were. The security guards who were previously in charge of the room were just heaps on the floor or tied together at the back of the room.

"Watch the door!" an angry shout rang out as a few heads turned in Sakura's direction.

"Oh!" Sakura waved quickly and played dumb. "Sorryyyyy, not the ladies room!"

She spun on her heel and lifted her other foot to go, but a heavy hand was at her throat, pushing her against the wall beside the door a little too roughly. The foreign fingers gripped tightly, squeezing her windpipe and making her gasp a little. Her jutsu was dispelled in the tussle and she kicked out with her shin guards.

Drawing chakra to her fist faster than she ever had in her life, Sakura managed an uppercut that hit so smoothly she barely felt the connection. Her attacker was lifted up in the air a least eight feet and hit the far wall beside the ladies washroom with a crash of broken plaster.

Unfortunately, as quickly as she had warded off the first man, two other men were there next to her.

One jabbed her upper arm while they tussled, and she found suddenly that she couldn't draw chakra to it anymore. She supposed he was like Hyuuga, but his eyes weren't nearly as nice. Tall and menacing looking in all black clothes, the man who cut off her chakra smirked and dodged back and forth as her fists swung wide of his face. The other took the opportunity to catch her arm. The men were just too quick and she only had one hand left to properly fight with.

Within a moment or two, they managed to pin Sakura as the chakra was cut off from her leg with a stab to her upper thigh. The last of her attempts to land another hit concluded with a quick jab to her shoulder on the other side, ending her chakra flow to that limb as well.

"Okay! Okay, I submit," she hissed, holding her hands up, fingers splayed.

For a second, everything stopped and she was able to take two breaths and really get a good look at what was going on in the room. Hands still held her in place, but only loosely around her upper arms and shoulder. Obviously they felt her threat was gone – which she was loath to agree.

Shin sat on the floor by the table next to the bar rubbing his head a little and looking lost. His tie was loose, and his top buttons were open on his shirt. He looked a little like a businessman after a long day at the office who just found out the stock market plummeted while he was in the bathroom.

Katsu was at the table behind Shin, but on the far side, leaning lazily but looking no less uncomfortable. The bikini barmaid was shaking as she stood behind the bar, two nasty looking brutes of ninjas ogling her and smiling distastefully.

Sakura's first assailant hadn't risen from where he hit the wall and she grinned in grim satisfaction that she'd cut their number by one at least. As her eye roved the room, she finally rested on the man she figured to be the leader. He was watching her with interest and she met his gaze.

His messy white hair looked a little too much like Kakashi's, although he had a ponytail in back, making her think more of Jiraiya. But his eyes were green, darker than her own and definitely more piercing. His clothes, as well as the others, were dark and non-descript, but they were ninja – no doubt about it in her mind.

And so again, Fate had added another little dimension to the realm of Sakura's misery.

A hard tug from her personal ninja escort had her stumbling across the decorative carpet to a chair, which faced Shin who looked clearly dazed. A rough shove jammed her into the chair and she held up her hands compliantly to be tied up, but they just laughed. Apparently chakraless meant non-threatening.

Sakura sighed, wondering when the freak lightning bolt was going to cut through the ceiling and kill her in a smoking mess of electric light when she noticed the heavy metal door that had come down in front of the glass cases, hiding the contents behind it. She couldn't see if the scroll was still there.

But what struck her most was the thing wedged underneath, providing at least a foot between the metal wall and the floor.

Strangely, it looked like it had fingers.

* * *

"Sakura…?" Kakashi mumbled as he rubbed his forehead gently. His eyes felt like someone had used them as dice and then put them back in his head, so he was more than grateful that the lights were off. He ran his hand slowly over the bed beside him, fully expecting to find another body there. Unfortunately, his arm just slid over the smooth duvet to find nothing at all. 

"Ugh," he groaned as he tried hard to sit up. His head was pounding and his stomach swirled and ached, threatening to bring up his dinner. Aside from using the sharingan so much that he would pass out, Kakashi couldn't remember ever feeling so horrible.

Fumbling and trying to roll over without getting sick, he managed to find the switch, mercifully on the base of the lamp on the bedside table. He was quite sure he heard his eyes scream when he flicked it on and the blinding yellow light flooded the room.

"Sakura!" he growled out, recovering his eyes with his hand and falling back to the bed. The room spun.

"She isn't here," a familiar voice answered.

Kakashi forced himself to sit up, and rolled his hand partially off his drooping eyes to see Pakkun lying comfortably at the end of the bed. He squeezed closed his sharingan.

"Where is she?" he hissed, knowing full well if Sakura wasn't in the room, she was out after the scroll. "Scratch that. What time is it?"

"Mm, about eleven. Nice yukata."

Kakashi squinted a look at the clock radio on the other side of the bed. If he felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how he felt after seeing he'd been incoherent for about two hours.

"What happened?" Pakkun asked while scratching his ear with a back paw.

"I don't know," Kakashi whispered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed in a painful movement. He dropped his face into his hands and rubbed. "I remember sitting at a table with Kogane and having a couple of drinks. I remember Sakura pulling me out through the casino and a thumping sound in the elevator…then nothing. I woke up just now."

"You know you shouldn't drink," Pakkun said offhandedly. "You swore you'd never drink after that time with Genma and that all-female ANBU squad. Remember?"

"How can I forget?" Kakashi mumbled. "I still have the scar…"

"You should get some water," Pakkun remarked.

"I can't function like this. I think I'm still drunk. I need to get sick." Kakashi lurched off the bed, and teetered into the wall near the bathroom door on his way.

"Lightweight," Pakkun whispered.

"I heard that," Kakashi strained before kneeling down in front of the toilet and emptying the contents of his stomach into it. After a few moments of retching, eventually leading to dry heaves, he fell back, thankful for the coolness of the bathtub and ceramic floor tiles. With the back of his shaking hand, he wiped the beaded sweat from his forehead.

"Looks like you need some rest," Pakkun issued from the bathroom door.

"I don't have time to rest," Kakashi grumbled as he pushed himself up and stumbled back toward he bed to his ninja clothes on a nearby chair. Trying with monumental effort to focus on the articles he pulled from his pack, Kakashi managed to locate the small box containing the soldier pills he always carried - but never used.

"Think that's a good idea?" the voice of reason asked him in the form of a small pug.

"No. But I have no choice. I need to just make it through a few hours." And with that, Kakashi slipped one onto his tongue and forced it down.

It had been years since he'd used a soldier pill, maybe eighteen or so. When he was in ANBU and the odds were not in his favour to live, he'd bow down to the chemicals in the tiny little pill. The adrenaline and caffeine alone made his heart race, but the other things he couldn't name brought his blood up and took away the shakes, adding strength for its trouble.

The effect was like the Itadaki, hitting him almost instantly. He'd pay for it later, but for now, he felt strong and sober. His hands had stopped shaking and his body felt tight and ready.

Tugging the obi open from his yukata, Kakashi stripped down and slipped into his fatigues. Nothing matched the feel of slipping on that heavy vest filled with weapons and a sense of security. Even the sound of the material as he slid it over his shoulders was enough to make him feel better.

Once the mask was back in place, he was ready to find out what Sakura was up to. But remembering the small dog was still there, Kakashi sat back down on the bed and asked quietly, "What happened in Sand?"

Pakkun sat down across from the copy-nin and gave an abridged version of the facts for expediency. He'd been traveling all night and was tired of really doing anything, but for Kakashi, he'd make a little effort. Watching the man vomit just made Pakkun feel sorry for him.

"I arrived within four hours of when you sent me, and gained an audience with Temari immediately. Remember that cute blond sand girl with the big fan? She listened and then took me to see the Kazekage. From there, I was told that they were aware that there was an invasion planned and that they'd already exacted countermeasures to the attacks."

"Seriously?" Kakashi asked, almost annoyed that they had wasted their time bothering with something that was already taken care of.

"But your scroll, I guess, was a fairly important piece in the puzzle. It outlined major attack points that Sand had not been able to get confirmed information on. They really did need it. Temari smashed a vase with her fan when she heard you lost it to a pickpocket."

Kakashi rubbed his forehead under his head protector. "You didn't have to tell them that specifically."

Pakkun ignored him. "They sent an operative to get the scroll. Its already on its way back to Sand."

"Geez."

"So you might as well go back to bed."

Kakashi sighed, strapping his leg holster on. "I have to go get Sakura. She might be trading her virtue for nothing as we speak."

"Well, don't forget to brush your teeth," Pakkun mumbled.

* * *

"How should I know where it is?" Sakura said matter-of–factly. "I didn't steal it. How stupid would I have to be to come here after I'd already obtained it? 

The white haired ninja leaned closer to her and cocked his head. "Leaf ninja are never alone. Where is your party?"

"You're looking at it, Jiraiya."

Sakura's green eyes followed the slow movement of the enemy ninja's hand as it moved behind her head. She clenched her jaw and waited as the sweeps of her ponytail told her he was wrapping his hand in her hair.

With a tug, her head jerked back and she was forced to stare up at he ceiling. Her hands gripped the chair arms tightly, fighting the urge to hit him with about as much force as she could - which might give him a small bruise. Without chakra, her options were limited.

"I don't mind breaking your pretty face to get what I need here. You have no idea how important that scroll is." His voice was cool and calm.

His lack of impatience made Sakura nervous. He really shouldn't be that calm. Grunts always got angry, flipped the bird, and said ridiculous cliché things. This guy was different.

She cleared her throat. "I'm starting to get an idea."

"Tell me how many you came with," the white haired ninja said calmly, tugging her head back farther and leaning over Sakura so she could look up into his face.

"Twenty-five."

"I can tell you are lying."

"Okay, thirty-eight. But I didn't count myself so…"

Another sharp tug was accented with a cool touch on her throat of what Sakura assumed was a kunai.

"I'll let you try one more time and if I'm not convinced, I'll terminate this conversation. Understand?"

The ninja's eyebrows rose a little in question, but his lack of reaction or emotion made her swallow hard in fear. She had no usable chakra and he was going to cut through her throat like he would through butter, spilling her short life onto the pretty carpet.

Sadly, the only thing she could think of was how Kakashi would blame himself.

"Just me," she said quietly. "I'm on my way to Sand for training. I stumbled across the scroll two days ago."

"Stumbled?" he repeated. "The man I killed the other day said he found a woman with pink hair who was traveling with a man he thought was me. He said that he'd given the scroll to them."

"Yes. He gave me the scroll, but there was no one with me. He said he was looking for someone with green eyes. Seemed happy to be rid of it actually."

With a tilt of his head, the ninja seemed to measure what she was saying.

"I think he means your brother? Right Sakura?" Katsu cut in. "She came in with a white-haired fellow who had a scar over his right eye – a red eye actually. But he got drunk and they left. He took my book."

The ninja looked at Katsu and then looked back down at Sakura strangely. "Copy-ninja Kakashi, is it?" He pressed the blade tighter to Sakura's throat and she felt the warmth of her blood trickle down to her shirt collar.

"I prefer Sharingan Kakashi," the familiar voice said from beside the door.

Immediately, the enemy let Sakura's hair go and she righted her head, rubbing the back of her neck before wiping the blood from her throat. Her eyes darted to the lazy form of her partner leaning on the wall like he had that very first day she met him so many years ago.

Looking aloof and unfazed, Kakashi flicked his gray eye in the direction of the blood-tinged kunai in the ninja's hand for a moment and then over to Sakura. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Her eyes went wide, wondering how the hell he was actually wandering around the room and not throwing up or passing out…like he did earlier. She nodded slowly.

"Oh wow," Shin cut in. "If Sakura and Iruka had a love child, it would look just like that guy!" He pointed to the enemy who was now crossing the room to find a spot between Sakura and Kakashi.

Sakura smacked her forehead, smearing a little blood there.

Katsu shook his head, and met Sakura's eyes. He pretended to knock himself in the head and then pointed at Shin.

The purple blotch of blood under Shin's bangs told her he might have had his eggs scrambled a little before she arrived. He looked more like a lost child then a high stakes trader who had his eye on her earlier.

"Nadare Choojoo. Since when are you working for Stone and plotting invasions against Sand?" Kakashi asked, still leaning lazily against the wall but keeping his eye trained on the other white-haired man.

"Since when does Hatake Kakashi chase around the casinos with teenagers in Sand?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's a new hobby."

It was on the tip of Sakura's tongue to say she was twenty-one, but felt her indignation could wait for another time.

"I imagine you still keep up with your old hobbies though, don't you?" Choojoo remarked plainly.

"Of course. But you're welcome to test me if you like." Kakashi's voice had taken on a slightly different tone and Sakura could feel the electricity in the room as if his chakra had crawled up her skin again. It made her shiver.

"I'm afraid I'll have to. We need that scroll."

"Sakura?" Kakashi lifted his chin in he medic's direction.

She instantly knew what he was asking. "Oh, ho, no, you go ahead. I'll just watch."

Kakashi's brow creased and getting a little tingle of intuition, he used a thumb to raise his forehead protector. Everyone's chakra swirled around in front of him, but when he looked at his partner, he could see nothing but stillness. _Shit._

"All right, Copy-nin. Let's get down to business," Choojoo said quietly. "I suspect she'll be no help, quite the opposite actually."

"We'll see," Kakashi said, pulling a kunai from his holster and flicking a thumb over it.

It was that moment that Choojoo ran at Kakashi, and Kakashi countered immediately in a blur of speed and skill. For a second, all Sakura could see were their outlines and the glint of a kunai here or there. But other men began to approach them, so she focused on what they were doing instead.

Tables were knocked over as Kakashi kicked his Choojoo into them, splintering the tops and erupting crashing sounds around the room. Another man tried to kick Kakashi but he was already somewhere else, a chair in the spot he was previously.

Sakura decided it was time to do something as the man who had stopped her chakra lunged forward at Kakashi. She managed to get between them by tangling her leg into her enemy's, but got a close-fisted punch in the cheek for her effort. It stung badly, making her eye water, and she was sure she heard a crack in there somewhere.

They fell together, Sakura underneath the man, and he crushing the breath out of her when they landed. Try as she might, she couldn't shove his large body off. His nasty breath blew across her face and he coughed out a laugh at her.

"Get off me, Jumbo!" she huffed out between strained breaths.

"Make me, kid," he laughed.

She would have sighed if she could; everything was just so much easier with chakra.

Sakura pushed hard, and he grabbed her hand from his chest, twisting it enough to make her scream. With a rough jab of the heel of her hand, she knocked his chin upward, and made him cut his lip on his teeth. It was enough to stun him so that he jerked away, and she was able to free herself.

The ring of steel hitting steel and the destruction of the room still played around her, but Sakura couldn't get wrapped up in wondering about Kakashi. She had her own trouble.

As she tried to dart away, the ninja caught her foot, making her fall hard on the carpet, banging her chin. She kicked at his face, but he had chakra and nothing she could do could change the fact that she didn't.

With one swift pull, laced with his internal energy, the ninja swung Sakura up. She felt herself come off the floor and before she knew it, her body had crashed into the wall similarly to the way her first assailant had.

For the longest time, she couldn't move. All she could do was stare out into the room. Her body refused to answer her brain as if someone had cut the tie between her mind and her limbs. Even the sounds around the room were muffled and nonsensical.

Everything after the moment she hit the floor now transpired in slow motion. The man walking toward her with a kunai in his hand to finish her off lumbered slowly, menacingly.

From where she lay, she could see Kakashi wielding his kunai so smoothly at the other side of the room fighting Choojoo, who appeared to be the last man standing in his pack of enemies. She'd forgotten Kakashi's immense skill until just that instant.

When feet stood right in front of her face, the old comfort of knowing Kakashi would never let her die in his presence took over. And even though she felt broken and in pain when the large man lifted her from the floor by her shirtfront, and held up a kunai, Sakura had no doubt that she'd live.

"This is for my lip," Sakura's attacker growled as he held up his kunai.

Sakura fought slipping into unconsciousness as she watched him put the tip of his blade to her side. Her feet dangled above the floor at least a foot and her shirt threatened to rip - but none of that mattered.

"Ka…Kakashi," Sakura said feebly, her head throbbing with each syllable.

"He's busy," the ninja smirked.

Sakura felt a jarring spike in her side that made her groan and hiss out in pain. Suddenly, she had trouble catching her breath. Her feet hit the floor and she fought to stay up on them, pressing her back against the wall and squeezing her eyes shut in pain.

Each draw of breath was painful, and each movement made her feel like her body was going to shatter into pieces. Everything was slowing down, getting weaker, heavier. Her chest heaved slowly, and she could feel her heartbeat in her throat.

Finally, she was aware of a loud thump on the floor in front of her, and she forced open her eyes. The ninja she had fought was dead, a smoking hole through his middle. The burning stench that came from him made her want to vomit, but even that would take too much effort.

Kakashi stood on the other side of the dead heap, breathing heavily, but looking no worse for wear. Some rips gashed open at his right arm and shoulder, and one across his thigh bled a little, but Sakura observed that nothing seemed remotely dangerous.

A tiny stitch of relief sank into her declining awareness.

"Sakura!" Kakashi hissed in panic, his brow stitched deeply. His natural eye stared at her side as he pulled down his headband to cover his sharingan.

Sakura looked down as well to see a kunai protruding from her left side. A stream of blood ran down her leg and through her leg-guard, making her foot sticky and cool.

"Would you look at that," she grumbled half-heartedly, looking down at her side. Her voice was shaky, even to herself. "I loved this shirt." She looked up at Kakashi with half-lidded eyes, who was now coming in and out of focus. "You'll….have to sew it up…again…"

"Don't speak." Kakashi moved to take a step over the body between them.

"You know…that's tw…two you owe me n…now…Kakashi…" Sakura put her hands on the wall, as she began to slide downward.

The room began to swim into darkness and her eyes went up to the ceiling. She felt two warm gentle arms slide under her own, but that was the last thing she knew.

* * *

Thanks to Icarust for the quick look over. :) More soon. 


	13. Pillow Talk

Chapter 13 - Pillow Talk

* * *

The first thing Sakura felt as the idea that she wasn't dead made its way into her awakening mind was blissful relief. The second thing was that it was damn hot where she was currently lying, but she was more comfortable than she'd actually been in a week. 

She cracked a tired green eye to see nothing but a darkened room shrouded by the nighttime outside two unusual round windows on either side of the room. The blanket over her body was more or less just a soft cotton sheet and felt feather-light on her tired limbs. Overhead, a ceiling fan with fat round panels spun calmly, giving a gentle breeze against her coverings. The air was dry, but smelled sweet like spices.

Gently waving around her were organza panels of reds and purples hanging from rods between the four-posters of the bed she lay in. It was a large bed with high wooden posters covered in intricate carvings, but it was too dark to make them out properly. The soothing sway of the organza made her feel like she'd just been dropped in paradise - sticky and hot perhaps- but paradise none-the-less.

The walls were rounded, a reddish colour, and had a few scattered pictures of nothing she could currently make out. A grand arrangement of flowers stood on a low table at the end of the bed, illuminated by beams of moonlight, and she thought there might be a dresser of some sort across the room but it was too dark to tell if were, perhaps, a desk instead.

Finally waking a little more, Sakura tried to sit up, but finding her body objecting she just propped herself up on her elbows for a better look around the room. When she turned her head to the side, she saw the ragged form of Hatake Kakashi, sunk low into a soft looking armchair and sleeping quietly.

With a tinge of a smile, Sakura lowered herself back down to the feather pillow and just stared at him for as long as her tired eyes would allow.

He was still dressed in his vest and mask, but his headband was half dangling from the arm of the chair, his fingers tucked protectively under the leather. His head was tipped back, and his hair was messy – though Sakura couldn't tell if it were any different from any other day. He'd stretched his legs out and looked like he'd propped a cushion under his arm for comfort. He was turned slightly away from the bed, and she could see his scar clearly in the moonlight - a perfect silver line over his eye.

Once again, he'd saved her. Once again, she'd needed to be saved. The whole mission had been one big screw up from beginning to end, and the old feeling of being useless sat in Sakura's aching stomach. What would he say when they spoke again?

Had he not come, she was sure they'd be putting her name on the memorial at that very moment.

Turning back to the fan, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

She swore when she got back home, she would lock herself in the lab and never come out. Her comrades deserved better.

* * *

The next time Sakura awoke, bright sunshine streamed across the walls in pale yellow beams from the circular windows. She could hear sounds outside the door and was quite sure it was her own door shutting with a snap that had woken her. 

Heat still filled the room, even more so with the sunshine. The fan still spun above her, wafting the organza and creating an atmosphere in the room that hummed relaxation. And upon closer inspection of herself, the kunoichi realized she was dressed in some sort of cotton hospital gown, which was short and untied in back. The cotton sheets felt velvety on her naked back over the luxuriously soft feather bed.

All in all, Sakura felt a little worse than she did when she woke in the night, like her muscles had gone on strike and were going to fight movement all the way, so she didn't bother to attempt sitting up this time. Instead, she turned her head to the side to find Kakashi still in his chair, but awake and working away with a needle and thread on her freshly laundered red shirt. His headband was back in place, but his vest was now hanging on the side of the chair.

"I was just joking," she whispered, watching his fingers make a tiny stitch. Her mouth was parched, lips dry. Speaking was difficult, and she had to clear her throat after just the first few words.

Kakashi looked at her, then at the door before tugging down his mask and giving her a feeble smile. "How are you feeling?"

Sakura observed that he didn't look himself. Dark circles lay under his eyes, and his skin was pale and gaunt. His hand quivered as he made a stitch and sweat beaded his upper lip.

"About how you look," she breathed out, her brow creased.

Kakashi waved it off with a shaking hand. "Can I get you anything?" he asked quietly.

Sakura shook her head and with some effort and a few cracking joints, shifted her body to the other side of the large bed before patting the empty space beside her.

Kakashi took a deep breath, put her shirt on the chair arm, and then stopped fighting the inevitable by lying down.

For a moment, after all the shifting and rumpling of bed-sheets had stopped, they both just lay in comfortable silence.

Kakashi closed his eyes and felt the immediate desire to fall asleep.

Sakura took in his slow movements and the way he stretched his long lean body out beside her. He seemed to sink into the mattress as if he were unsure about it. Drawing slightly closer, she breathed in the clean scent of soap mixed with that something musky and alluring that was distinctly Kakashi.

For Sakura, there would never be anything that would ever smell as good as he did at that moment.

She scooted closer, feeling for Kakashi's sleeve to run her fingers along it, wanting to add to what her other senses were picking up. Tired as she was, nothing would make her feel better than just being near him for a while.

When she felt the tingle of his chakra mingled with hers at her fingers, she smiled. Kakashi turned his head and cracked his eye, feeling it also.

"So what happened?" Sakura finally whispered, moving close enough that she could press the top of her bare foot under the sheet against his leg.

"I couldn't get to you in time," he responded groggily. "You gave me a real scare."

Sakura sighed, knowing his guilt was probably getting the better of him. "That's not what I meant. Where's the scroll?"

"Ah, the scroll," he sighed sleepily. "Well, Pakkun had arrived at the Hidden Village of Sand, which is where we are now, and spoke with Temari. Gaara sent Kankuro back with Pakkun to see if he could help. Apparently, Kankuro saw us leave the casino the first time, and stumbled onto the chaos of Shin yelling at his security and getting mad enough to chase them all from the room for a bit. Kankuro took the opportunity to use a puppet to set off the steel wall, but to leave enough room to grab the scroll. He's depressed that he had to destroy one."

"Kankuro was there? So the puppet was the fingers I saw," she breathed out in disbelief. "What about the other ninja?"

"They came in immediately after Kankuro left. Nadare Choojoo is a man I'd had dealings with a few times before. He's S-Class. His group is all elites from the Snow Country. You're lucky to be alive being up against that many. I'm lucky to be alive. That man you incapacitated before I arrived could counter the Sharingan. The alarm was going off and it seemed that you arrived shortly after a quick brawl between Choojoo's men and the security. I assume it was a _very_ short fight."

"You know, I was shocked to see you appear there. I figured you would be waking up sometime in the morning," Sakura laughed a little. "You took a soldier pill, didn't you? You look terrible."

Kakashi nodded slightly and closed his eyes again, tucking his hands under his head in his usual lazy way. His voice sounded weak, even to himself. "Anyway, Sand was aware of Stone's attack and had already countered most of what was coming. The scroll was important, but not anything they couldn't have managed without. It's all over."

"Seriously?"

"That's what I said when I heard."

Sakura managed to lift a hand to tap her forehead lightly, then hissed an "ouch."

"Shin was okay. I guess he had his marbles rearranged by Choojoo before you arrived. And we got lucky, actually. They had a staff doctor on at the casino. Apparently, people have heart attacks there all the time. He stopped your bleeding so we could bring you back."

"We?"

"A group of Sand-nins arrived shortly after our fight with Kankuro in tow. He's got a soft spot for you since you saved his life years ago. They brought our belongings and helped carry you. We're at the Kazekage's residence. You've been asleep for almost two days."

"And you still look like shit after that long? Maybe you should have found a bed to sleep in instead of that chair."

Kakashi laughed a little. "Maybe not a _full _two days of sleep, eh?"

Sakura smiled weakly. "I can feel my chakra again. How did that nin stop it? I thought there were only three types of eyes that could see chakra. He didn't seem to have anything special with his."

"Oh, yeah. It was pretty unique. I actually copied it. He makes a chakra tie of some sort with his own chakra. It actually fills up an area in the affected limb and just halts the stream of chakra. Simple, but useful."

"Looking forward to trying it, aren't you?" Sakura laughed again gently.

For a few moments, they both lay there in silence, digesting everything that had led up to that moment.

Kakashi finally cleared his throat. "You know, just before you passed out, you told me I owed you two now. What did that mean?"

Taking a second to figure out when she'd said that, it occurred to Sakura that he didn't really owe her anything so it was a strange thing to say. She supposed in all the craziness before she slumped to the floor, it was just a stupid joke to lighten things. At the time, she hadn't really been thinking clearly. But it seemed like he knew what she really meant and was fishing to discuss it. "I…said that? I don't recall saying that."

"I assume that you meant because your shirt got cut, but I couldn't figure out what the second thing I owed you was." Kakashi turned his eye up to the ceiling and watched the fan turn slowly.

"Oh." Sakura bit her lip. "Well…remember what we were…doing before you passed out? You were going to…I mean to say that…we were…"

Making the bed shift a little, Kakashi jerked his head in Sakura's direction. "We were what…?"

Her green eyes widened, looking bright against the pink of her cheeks. "You…you don't remember?"

A hand went to Kakashi's face and he rubbed his forehead hard, shifting his headband. "The whole thing is a little hazy," he mumbled, looking slightly panicked. "All I remember were the drinks and the elevator. The rest is a blur. I was afraid of this. Did we…? Oh Hell, did we do something?"

"You don't have to sound so mortified..." Sakura mumbled back, seeing he looked more shocked than he ever had in all the years she'd known him.

"Did I…do something…to you?" All sorts of things filled Kakashi's mind. Images of them naked, all kinds of torrid positions and Icha Icha type situations crossed his thoughts. Was he bad in bed when drunk? Did he say something stupid? Did he leave her wanting? Was not able to…? Oh God, was he able to?!

Sakura could see his inner turmoil, his gray eye skirting around the canopy looking for some memory to jump out at him. Had she thought about it longer, she might have come up with something to say that would make everything right. But that perfect sentence that would make him feel better about being intimate with her didn't seem to exist.

Kakashi hated complication, and Sakura didn't want to cause him any. The budding flirtation and almost romance between them was so much of what she wanted to continue with, but his distress was a little too obvious. It was ruining the comfort.

"We…ah…nothing. We did nothing. We went back to the room and you passed out. I just got dressed and left. Even drunk, you were a…perfect gentleman." She smiled sympathetically, trying hard not to let her disappointment leak into her expression. Lying so close to him, feeling the warmth of his body where she had enough courage to connect them was just torture. But seeing that he wasn't feeling it at all like she did was worse.

With a quick shift, Sakura lay back on her back, sucking up the aches and pains of her joints, and closed her eyes.

"Why don't I believe you," Kakashi said quietly. His eye scanned her face.

"There's no reason not to believe me, Kakashi. Isn't it nicer to hear the answer you hope for?" Sakura opened her eyes and stared up at the turn of the round wooden panels of the fan, trying harder to feel the air they pushed towards her.

"I want to hear the truth. If I…did something I shouldn't have, I'd expect you to tell me."

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. "You didn't do anything you shouldn't have. I swear. You were perfect." She yawned softly – purposely.

Hearing the lie in her voice, Kakashi closed his eyes as well and tried to picture the bits and pieces leading up to when it all was lost. Unfortunately, nothing came, just scattered remnants of a night gone wrong. At least it was all over and they could head back when they were ready. With a long trip home, he'd probably manage to get the answers he wanted…or didn't want.

As he lay there silently, Kakashi could hear Sakura's breath become a little heavier, slower. In turn, he just stayed still and let his own body loosen and slack against the bed. It wasn't long before he was asleep as well.

* * *

When Kakashi awoke again, he was in the large luxurious bed alone. The fan still moved overhead, but the organza panels on the other side of the bed had been pulled open completely. Steam came from an open door on the far side of the room from what he assumed was a bathroom. 

For a moment, he couldn't get up. How long he had slept was anyone's guess, but the beams of sunshine had moved generously around the room. It was still dry and hot, but not quite so bad under the fan. He could hear feet moving around at the foot of the bed and then felt a light shift of the mattress when someone sat down.

"You're awake," Sakura said coolly.

Kakashi propped himself up on his elbows to see her fully dressed in her twice sewn shirt, shorts and skirt. A white towel draped over a shoulder, and with both hands, she rubbed the ends of her wet hair gingerly.

"Going somewhere?" Kakashi asked, cocking his head a little.

Sakura smiled a little. "Yeah, home. Did you want a shower before we leave?"

"I'm all right. Had one this morning."

"You mean yesterday morning." She put the towel over her head.

"What?"

"You've been asleep for almost twenty hours, Kakashi. I feel a lot better and I'd say you look a hell of a lot better." She got up off the bed and went back into the bathroom without looking at him.

Kakashi's eyes followed her long legs. Instantly an image of them rolling on a hotel room bed flashed across his mind. He'd never be able to look at her without thinking that they'd had sex and he couldn't remember. Nothing would ever be worse than missing out on that, with the exception of not missing out on it and not remembering.

Grumbling, he fell back to the bed, trying to get the ideas out of his mind.

* * *

After a muscle-soothing hot shower, Kakashi felt like he'd managed to stave off the "hangover" from the soldier pill. He hated taking them. They wreaked havoc on the system, pushing him to his limits for a few hours to collapse of exhaustion after. Rest, food and time were the only remedy. 

They ate dinner with the Kazekage before leaving, and Sakura virtually ignored the copy-nin in favour of an excitable reunion with Kankuro. She'd glanced at Kakashi once during the entire meal.

After their small banquet and reunion, a group of Sand-nin escorted them to the outskirts of the protected area to a small village four hours away. Night was falling so the escort was more than necessary. The trek was tiring, but a train ride awaited them back to an area in the Fire Country within a day's walk to the gates of Konoha.

The entire day, from the time Kakashi woke up to the time they arrived at the train platform, Sakura had barely spoken to him. It just reiterated the idea that she was dealing with something that had happened and was keeping it locked up inside.

Kakashi wasn't one to force conversation. Naturally, he loved the silence and peace that the lack of discussion provided. Sakura was quite the opposite so it was disconcerting to him that she chose to be tight-lipped – ever.

"You've been quiet," he murmured above the noise of the people waiting around them for the train to arrive.

"Have I?" she said blankly. "Well, if you need to talk, you can ask me a question and I'll give you an answer."

Kakashi smirked a little behind his mask. "I thought you preferred stimulating adult conversation?"

"I think I might have had enough stimulation this week," she drawled, glancing sideways at him. Inwardly she thought that truly she hadn't had nearly enough at his hands and wished she could change her answer.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi said quietly. "Because I can give you some more if you want."

Sakura's mouth fell open, her eyes went wide as she spun around to him, but Kakashi was straining over the heads of the other people on the platform.

"Oh, here comes the train," he added, picking up his bag and smiling his faker-than-fake eye-creaser for good measure. "Let's go."

"Wha…?" Sakura's eyes followed him as he began to navigate through the throng of people, his white hair just above everyone else's. Seems he was quite back to himself.

Picking up her own rucksack, she stumbled after him, trying not to get shuffled too far behind as the crowd closed in around the steps to the train-car. She made her way up the metal risers and through the narrow corridors filled with doors to compartments, each with two seats facing each other.

While being bustled by other riders, she glanced into the compartment windows until she found the one with the lone Copy-nin inside, already seated. Sakura grabbed the flimsy door-handle and pushed her way in. Kakashi didn't look at her; his eye was already trained on the world outside the window.

With a quiet sigh, she tossed her bag up into the metal mesh overhang on the other side from Kakashi and then plopped down on the seat opposite him.

And finally, with a lurch, the train began to move toward the Fire Country and her comfortable old life.

"How…uh…how long is the train ride?" Sakura asked, finally letting her gaze rest on her companion. His elbow was up on the seat arm below the window and his chin was in his hand in a lazy lean while he watched the passing terrain.

His gray eye flicked to her.

She cocked her head. "How…long?"

He shrugged, and then yawned loudly behind his dark mask.

Sakura's face screwed up in dismay. He was ignoring her. Truly and completely, he was being pre-mission Kakashi again. Well, she wouldn't let it get the better of her.

"Can I have a look at that blue book? I assumed you still have it," Sakura asked sweetly.

With deliberate indolence, Kakashi turned slowly to his pack on the seat beside him, opened the flap and began digging his way through his belongings. He rifled out papers, clothing articles, and the odd scroll.

"Is that our chocolate chip scroll?" Sakura shot out, pointing to the one currently wrapped in his pinky.

"Oh, yeah," he said to his pack, and then tossed it to her. "We got both actually. Tsunade and Temari were exchanging recipes. Old family favorites, I hear. The Sand-nins found it when they went through Choojoo's belongings."

Sakura fumbled the scroll in her fingers, finding the desire to throw it out the window very valid. "Cookies," she grumbled.

"Pecan chocolate chip cluster bars," Kakashi mumbled. "Aha." He pulled out the book as if it were hidden in the depths of a trunk somewhere and tossed it leisurely onto the seat beside Sakura without a clear look in her direction. "Enjoy."

Sakura set the scroll beside her, scowling a little, and grabbed up the porn book. If he were going to ignore her, she would just do the same right back. At least a little reading would pass the time.

They only had one more night to spend in the forest and then they'd be home. How bad could that be?

Sure, already she was finding the silence difficult. Her mind kept slipping back to his warm hands on her skin, his mouth on parts of her that mouths didn't reach on a daily basis. The memory of his fingers hooking into her panties and what almost happened brought a blush to her cheeks.

She thought of waking up beside him this morning, his breathing quiet and slow. He looked peaceful and comfortable with her – just how she felt. She'd pondered how nice it would have been to wake up everyday like that.

_Damn it all. It doesn't matter._

She flipped open the book and stared at the pages of people taking clothes off and clinging to each other in positions she never imagined.

_Oh God._

It was going to be a long train ride.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and to Icarust for ideas and betaing. More soon. 


	14. The Second Best Cure?

Chapter 14 - The Second Best Cure?

* * *

The lurch of the train wasn't what woke Sakura as the brakes of the great locomotive squealed to a halt. Actually, after a second of concentrating on the point of impact – being her ass – she believed it was a foot (Size 10) that had done the deed. 

For a few half-awake moments staring at the blue vinyl of the seat she was lying on, Sakura tried to decide what her next course of action should be. If she turned over and kicked him back, they might end up in a full-on row in the middle of a packed train. No one had the money to fix that.

If she ignored it, surely it would just become an annoying habitual thing to obsess over – just like her incessant need to look at Kakashi's ass whenever he walked in front of her now.

No, she needed to give him a good dose of something he wouldn't expect.

She closed her eyes, gripped tightly on the blue book snuggled against her stomach, and shifted heavily onto her back.

"Mm, Kakashi," she mumbled as if asleep. She slipped a hand to her throat, rubbing lightly and then ran it inside her shirt to pull the zipper down a little. Then she stretched out, turning her head to face his direction.

The small cabin was silent, save for the noise outside the door.

Just as she started to worry Kakashi had actually vacated the compartment, she heard a soft thump on the seat across from her. She managed to keep composure for another second, the laughter so close to bursting out.

Kakashi finally cleared his throat, but it took longer than she expected. Up until that moment, she was almost positive his eyes were on her.

Finally feigning someone just waking up, Sakura stretched her arms and legs out, propped her feet up onto the wall and yawned in sleepy gratification. She grinned deliciously and looked over at the Copy-nin with half-lidded eyes. "Mm, I had the best dream."

Kakashi rubbed across his jaw with an open hand and shifted his eyes to the wall but they slowly moved back to her again.

"Oh, my shirt zipper is down! How did that happen?" she mumbled as she sat up and zipped it a little lower, pulling open her shirt slightly to reveal the top edge of a lacy bra underneath. "I've scratched myself too. Look at that." She ran a finger over the curve of her breast.

Kakashi sighed and pulled up his mask.

With a quick loud zip, Sakura's shirt was done back up all the way. "So, are we in the Fire Country?" She stood up and looked out the window, leaning back to crack her spine satisfyingly. "Oh, my behind is tender," she added offhandedly as she rubbed it slowly.

"Hm," Kakashi mumbled, shouldering his bag as he stood up as well. "Let's get moving."

"Sure!" Sakura said sweetly, feeling great from at least ten hours of sleep. "Want your book back?" She held out the blue book with both hands as she had yet to put it down.

"Hm," he added again, taking it from her and turning to the door.

"Is something wrong?" she said to his back as he grabbed the small door handle.

His shoulders seemed to tighten for a moment. "Nnn…no."

* * *

Six hours of walking along trails, moving in and out of the trees, and getting swacked by the odd branch had Sakura silently wishing to be back in the comfortable sway of the train. 

She'd spent the first three hours in the train compartment reading and ignoring Kakashi – which was easy considering the reading material's appeal. The second hour was spent in the dining car. The third hour was spent reading again, only this time she was just looking at pictures and trying hard not to appear too obviously aroused.

When Kakashi mumbled, "You get used to it. It doesn't affect you like that after a while." Sakura lifted her eyes to him and said, "Really? I hope that I _never_ look at something like this and not get turned on. What would be the point of reading it?"

For once, Hatake Kakashi seemed lost for words.

Now, as they trudged through the dense forest of the Fire Country, she felt some excitement with being so close to home. One last night and she could shower, sleep and cook decent food in her own kitchen. All the normal things she'd do after her shift in the lab, she would do again with a newfound appreciation.

But of course, having the mission come to a close meant her excursion with Kakashi was over too. In the days together, she'd really taken a liking to him – close to the point where she felt like they were breaking up after a short relationship. He was gorgeous to be sure, but interesting, and fun to be around. The toe-curling kisses weren't too bad either. But his reaction to the idea that something happened between them had disappointed her enough to figure that she was wasting her time hoping.

In the past, she'd spent enough of her time on a man. She'd developed defense mechanisms for just such a problem because rejection was something she was all too familiar with.

Kakashi wandered ahead of her, navigating the terrain easily, even in the waning sunlight. His mask was perpetually up now and he hadn't said a word since leaving the train. She wondered if she'd finally put an end to the flirtation with denying what happened. He seemed to be clinging to the idea that she'd lied to him (which she had) and was going to give her the silent treatment for it.

If she told him, would he think she took advantage of the situation? Would he be even more upset by his own behavior and avoid her all together? Less than the attention he gave her now was going to equate to a whole lot of nothing, and the thought of complete and utter estrangement was too much to bear.

As usual, her eyes dropped to his behind, but she mentally slapped herself and looked back at his pack_. Don't objectify him…_

"This looks like a good place," he said from ahead of Sakura without turning to look at her.

"Sure," she replied quietly, feeling the dullness of too much thinking and no apparent solution for her efforts.

They dumped their packs heavily and set about making camp. Sakura went to find large stones for around the fire from the stream edge nearby. Kakashi began gathering some wood and twigs for firewood and kindling. Silently they went about their work, ignoring the fact that they were ignoring each other.

Kakashi used some fishing line, hoping to catch a couple of fish, and took a moment to leisure by the stream and put his feet in. He'd never admit it to Sakura, but they were aching a little bit. Even _rusty_, she seemed to have so much more energy than he did.

He chuckled to himself a little. The trick on the train was good; she had even managed to get him to look at where she'd opened her shirt. It was like the first few days when her teasing started, not bad, but definitely something to keep in check.

Something had happened between them. Something went on in that hotel room and he could tell she was thinking about it all the time. Certainly he was being quiet as well, but he figured Sakura would crack under the silent treatment. With the exception of twelve- year-old -Sakura, no one ever talked as much as she did so why the constant stray looks and quiet replies?

Well, they had one more night together so he would do his best to get the goods on his blank memory. Obviously the no-talk strategy wasn't working. She was too absorbed in her own thoughts to really be bothered. It was time for a different tactic. He leaned back and glanced at her busying herself with cooking.

With a sigh, Sakura checked the rice in the tiny pot over the fire for the third time. Leave it to Kakashi to have a small pot and some rice left in his pack after everything they had been through. Well, it was a huge rucksack, so she supposed there could be all sorts of things in there aside from dirty books and recipe scrolls.

The Copy-nin finally got up from his lazy position by the water and was carrying an empty fishing line with him when he returned. It seemed to Sakura that he'd given up, which was fine. Rice and rice was an easy enough dinner to share.

Carefully, she scooped equal amounts of rice into her own travel bowl, and some in the one Kakashi presented to her from his pack. She pulled out the chopsticks she'd procured at the Kazekage's residence and slowly began to eat, not really making an effort to gain any sustenance from it with picking up about a grain or two at once.

Kakashi dug around in his pack and hm'd a little. "Must have lost the chopsicks I was given."

"I have extras," Sakura replied, almost too eagerly.

Kakashi waved her off. "It's all right. I'll just use my fingers."

"If you're sure."

With a light tug of his mask, Kakashi's face was exposed again. The lopsided moviestar grin was planted there, and he lifted a little bit of the rice to his mouth. "As long as you don't mind."

Sakura looked up from her chopsticks to see him put a bit on his tongue. He smiled a little while he chewed, and then licked his lips. "It's good. Thanks." Again, he lifted just a little on the end of his fingers and slid it into his mouth, almost too slowly.

Sakura cleared her throat, forgetting about her rice for the moment.

"Its warm tonight, don't you think?" Kakashi mumbled, setting his bowl down and undoing his vest. "I think I may have too many layers on."

"I'm…uh…okay." Her eyes were inadvertently glued to him.

Kakashi proceeded to slip off his vest and jounin shirt in favour of sitting in his sleeveless shirt with attached mask. "Better. I think might take a swim later. The water is perfect."

Sakura fanned herself a little. "Yeah, now that you mention it, it is hot. You're right." _I think I might go and dunk my head in the water right now. _

Why was he chatty all of a sudden? What was he playing at by flirting, trying to get her attention on him after the near-silence before? He was definitely up to something. For some horrible reason, she was finding it all too hard to take.

"Wow, it's really, really warm," he mumbled again, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and lifting it up slightly as if he were going to pull it off too.

The cut of his perfect abdomen looked tantalizing in the firelight and Sakura felt it all build up like she needed to explode. "Okay. I think we need to spar or something," she huffed out, dropping her bowl to the grass.

"Pardon?" Kakashi looked up at her innocently, dropping his shirt hem.

"Fight. Spar. Asskick. Throw down. You're asking for it. I'm going to give it to you," she said angrily now with a stiff finger pointed at his chest as she stood up. "I'm not sure what you are up to, but if I don't do something soon, I'm going to lose it."

"Come again?"

"I don't know about _again_, but once might have been nice."

"What?" Kakashi's eyebrows creased.

Sakura was done playing games. Evidently, hours of porn reading on a train and a near miss with sexual ecstasy with one drunken Copy-nin could pent-up sexual frustration like nobody's business. The only way she could think to get the energy out was to burn it off with a fight.

"It's our last night together. I think we should do what we were sent out to do. Give me a good fight one last time… and…I'll tell you what _really_ happened in the hotel room." She narrowed her green eyes and raised an eyebrow in a challenge.

"Ah," Kakashi said quietly. "I knew there was more than you were telling me."

The porn had done it. She was revved up and he was making it worse by teasing her. It might be a good situation to get what he wanted. They would have a little spar and she'd spill it. Sounded fair to him.

Sakura bent down and pulled her gloves from her pack. Stretching her fingers into them, she peered up at the stars starting to come out overhead. She hated fighting at night. There were so many better things they could have been doing in the cover of the forest - like maybe page 28 - she was _so_ ready for page 28.

"All right. We'll have a go at it. You know I want the truth out of you and if this is how to get it, then so be it." Kakashi stood up also, grabbing his gloves and shirt.

"This is the _only_ way to get it," she said determinedly.

"Too bad. My last resort was to seduce it out of you. But if this floats your boat, we'll do it your way." Kakashi pulled his jounin shirt on nonchalantly.

Finding the last little tease unbearable, Sakura leapt at Kakashi in frustration. "You…infuriating…!" she growled. But as she got to the spot he was standing in, he - of course - was gone.

For a moment, she stood stock-still and tried to listen, but the pounding blood rushing through her ears prevented finding his location that way. Instead, she clenched a fist and took her best guess at where he might be. With one angry chakra-laden punch, she splintered the trunk of a tree in a satisfying crack.

"Not that one," his voice called down from one farther to the left.

"Grrrrraaaaa!" Her fist flew through another one, renting the trunk in two.

A light chuckle reached her while he chimed happily, "Getting warmer."

"You coward," she hissed.

Hands were suddenly on her hips and a body stood right behind her. "No one has _ever _called me that."

"Well, then. I'm happy to be your first," she said with false sweetness, and took a step out of his grasp to spin on her heel and direct her other foot at his head. Kakashi braced his arm and blocked the kick with the steel protector on his glove.

But before he could recover his stance, she was already swinging at him. Easily, he swayed out of the way, and pushed up his headband while stepping back.

Sakura stopped for a second and crossed her arms. "You use your sharingan on me, and I'm going to use my chakra on you," she warned.

Kakashi looked at splintered trees visible in the firelight and raised an eyebrow. "Fine, no extras. Just a fist fight if that's what you think you need." He slid his headband back down.

"Perfect," she shouted as she jumped at him again, this time just tagging his jaw with a right. Kakashi rolled with it, grabbing her arm on the downswing and pulled them both to the ground.

Sakura ended up on top of Kakashi, and she pushed herself up enough to try and jam a fist into his face again, but he shifted at the last second to get out of her way. Sakura yelped as her knuckles hit the hard ground.

Kakashi grabbed her arm before she could recover and pulled it while rolling again. Sakura made a noise of surprise as he knocked her down onto the grass and straddled her.

But she wasn't one to quit, so she grabbed at his shirt and cocked her arm back as far as it would go against the hard ground.

Of course, Kakashi had his hand on her fist before she could throw it and pulled it hard again, actually flipping her onto her stomach and letting his weight fall on her.

They were both breathing heavy, but Sakura finally felt all the energy drain out of her. There was no way she could possibly get over what she was feeling this way and in defeat, her anger deflated. He'd won, yet again.

Kakashi straddled her behind, holding her arms down with his hands. She was pinned and there was nothing she could do about it.

She laid her cheek down on the grass and sighed. "Okay. I think I'm done."

"Good. I didn't feel like fighting and it seems like fighting isn't what you really needed either. But we did, so now you can hold up your end of the deal."

"Are you sure you really want to know?" Sakura said quietly, trying to ignore the meaning in his words and squirming a little, hoping he'd get off her. The chakra was tickling her skin from the constant feel of it bouncing between them and I wasn't helping. "You might not like what you hear."

Kakashi let her hands go and rose up slightly so she could turn over, and then he sighed, "I think I'm entitled. I can't imagine you'll tell me anything worse than what I've been imagining anyway."

"Worse than…what?" She met his eyes and then her gaze rolled to the fire. The firelight cast off too much light and she wished they were further into the darkness. "Well…if you think it will be of any use to anyone for you to know, then I'll tell you. But just so you know…I don't feel bad about it. It wasn't anything I didn't want. I don't want you to…be distant with me because of it."

"Quit stalling."

"I'm getting to it." She glanced up at his face. "It's just…I can't tell you when we are like this."

Without hesitation, Kakashi easily stood up and stepped over her. With equal ease, he sat back down beside her, laid back and stretched out, putting his hands behind his head for comfort. "All right. Hit me."

Sakura sat up and crossed her legs, but turned away so she didn't have to look at him. She could almost feel his eyes burning into her back, but ignored the shivers. "Okay…so…we got to the room after the drinking foolishness with Shin and you…sort of…kissed me. I mean…we kissed. And we kissed some more…and…a bit more. Then we went to the bed. And we…did some…_stuff_."

Kakashi couldn't help widening his eyes. _Stuff?_ Stuff was just too vague. Again, visions of them stripped to their birthday suits and doing some gymnastics in tandem started playing in his head.

"You started to take my clothes off…and kiss me some more…in places other than my mouth…"

Kakashi rolled on his side, slightly worried about what she was saying, but somewhere deep inside, immensely enjoying her discomfort. "Where?"

Sakura glanced sideways at him, "In the bed."

"No, I mean, where did I kiss you?"

"Imagine where you would kiss someone other than their mouth, Kakashi, geez," Sakura half-growled, finding his glibness making everything more difficult.

"Would you like me to get the blue book? You could point it out if you're too embarrassed to say." Kakashi fought the little chuckle that wanted to accompany his words. Her embarrassment was charming.

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You are enjoying this way too much. You kissed me. My throat, my breasts, my stomach, my hip…my thigh…"

"Ah." Kakashi knew that route all too well, and figured he knew what was coming next. In the back of his mind, he loved the idea that he might have done that to her, but was nearly depressed that he had no memory to accompany his fantasy. But seeing her fret over how to say it was definitely worth any regret it might cause him. "Keep going."

"I would…if you did."

"What?" Kakashi sat up with a start.

"You…fell asleep. You passed out on me. Your fingers were actually hooked into my panties, and when you stopped moving, I found you snoring against my thigh." A little perturbation leaked into her voice. "So there you go. You don't have to feel mortified that you might have slept with me – as horrendous as it sounds – because you didn't."

"Oh Hell," Kakashi laughed. "Is that all that happened?"

"Yes. That's it."

Kakashi continued laughing, actually needing to hold his stomach. "I was so damn worried that we'd had sex. Imagine my relief."

With a quick push, Sakura was up on her feet, brushing the dirt and grass off her clothes with a snap of her hands. She couldn't ever, in all her years of knowing him, remember Kakashi ever laughing so hard. "I'm glad you feel better that nothing happened. Satisfied?"

Kakashi stopped laughing and looked up at her with some lingering amusement. "Yep."

"At least one of us is," she grumbled as she stomped back to the fire. Sitting down heavily on the grass, she began to jam her scattered belongings into her pack.

Kakashi got up and wandered over lazily, stuffing his hands into his pockets and feeling that perhaps getting her even angrier was not prudent. But she couldn't understand the relief he felt that he hadn't missed anything. The least he could do for her was to stop laughing, and with some inner strength he managed to rein it in. "What are you doing?" he asked casually, seeing her stuff a few things into her rucksack with force enough to punch a hole through it.

"I'm heading back. I'm tired of being out in the forest and I'm tired of being away from the village. It's not far and I know which direction to go. I'll be there by morning," Sakura huffed.

"It's a six hour hike," Kakashi said plainly, seeing that she was wounded. Obviously there had been a huge misunderstanding between them. "But if you want to, we can go now. It'll be light when we get to the gates. I've navigated at night plenty of times."

Sakura glanced up at him and seemed to lose her anger. Her hands fell lightly onto the bag and her shoulders lost the tension they'd been holding. She felt defeated. "I really would like to go back. Is that all right with you?"

Sauntering over to his pack, Kakashi stretched and looked up before pulling his mask back up. "All right. If you want that, we'll go. Pack up."

* * *

A long night of stumbling through the forest and getting scratched and scraped by every stray branch had Sakura exhausted and bruised. Kakashi had navigated ahead of her and managed to produce two small flashlights from his bottomless pack for the trip. They hardly spoke except to say _watch out for this_ or _let's stop for a minute_. 

Now, as the sun peeked over the trees and the paths got clearer, Sakura began to feel guilty about everything that had gone on throughout the entire mission. She'd gotten injured, gotten the scroll stolen, gotten drunk and almost killed. She'd been in a barfight, been flirted with, and almost made love to – almost. She'd endangered them, flagrantly ignored mission rules, and fallen for someone who could probably never commit to anyone ever. Not one for the telling or the history books. An empty feeling found a resting place in her stomach.

"I see the gates," she said feebly.

Kakashi nodded, and continued walking until he led them right up to the outside of the large painted doors. A few people were mulling around inside, heading to the gate office or opening the shops just inside the wall, and Kakashi stopped for a second to watch them. The guards were changing and the smell of the nearby bakery made them really believe they were standing there.

"Well, we're finally at the gates. The mission's over," he said evenly.

Sakura's eyebrows creased, finding his intonation peculiar, like something else was supposed to happen now. She looked at him standing there with his mask up and supporting his weight casually to one side. Both hands were stuffed in his pockets and he was back to the man she'd always known. The mission truly was over.

For a moment, they stood side-by-side and watched Konoha begin to wake up. Sakura felt everything shifting back to normal, back to everything she was familiar with. And being her old self, she realized that she'd been less than mature in demanding a fight with Kakashi because she had pent-up, unresolved desires and feelings.

"Kakashi," she began in a quiet tone. She could see his head turn to her from the corner of her eye. "I wanted to say sorry about everything. I really screwed that whole mission up and nearly got us killed. I can imagine you have probably had enough of me."

Kakashi looked through the gates and scratched his masked cheek. "With the exception of you almost getting killed, the rest wasn't that bad. We're both alive, in one piece, and the mission was successful. We can keep the finer points to ourselves at the mission debriefing tomorrow."

She laughed out a little breath. Finer points. That was an understatement.

"Ready to go in?" he added, but his feet hadn't moved.

Sakura couldn't move either. In her mind all night, she'd thought about the things she wanted to say to him. There were definite feelings attached to him and it wouldn't be like Sakura to not act on them. As embarrassing as the scene could be, she'd give it one last little effort to see if there were any sparks besides their crazy chakra link.

"I want to say something," Sakura finally blurted out. It was now or never. "We really flirted our way through that entire mission, and when we ended up in bed together, I would have loved it if you hadn't passed out. After everything that happened, I can't help that I like you more than I should. The worst thing for me was that you were so mortified that we might have slept together. I understand that you don't want this by your reaction, but I really enjoyed every minute I spent with you on this mission."

"Ah." Kakashi smiled gently, a touch of amusement and understanding in his tone. He pulled his mask down and stepped in front of her, turning his back to the gate. "I wasn't upset that we might have had sex. I was concerned that we'd had sex and I couldn't remember it." He leaned closer as if they were sharing a secret. "I would bet that sex with you would be something worth remembering, and I would hate to be incoherent for it. My being sober would definitely be more enjoyable for you too."

"What?" Sakura's eyes widened and she bit her lip.

With some intention, Kakashi turned his gaze back to the gate and stared in. "The mission is over. We aren't working anymore. We don't have any obligations for the next 24 hours until the debriefing."

"I don't understand what you're saying." Sakura grabbed his arm and felt the chakra surging between them.

Kakashi looked back down at her and said casually, "No one is even expecting us back until this afternoon. Let's go back to my apartment and pick up where we left off in the hotel room."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, and her knees felt a weakening tickle. The thought of crawling into bed with him was so exciting that she couldn't help feeling turned on by the mere mention of it. But realizing she was sweaty and dirty from stomping through the forest all night, she knew it wasn't how she'd want their first encounter to be - not that the weight of his question had totally sunken in yet either. "I really…_really_ want to. But let me run home and shower…"

"Why don't we just start with that? I could use one too."

"I…oh…okay," she replied breathily. Her cheeks were hot and her heart pounded. "But you don't have relationships. Is this just…sex?"

Kakashi sighed a little and shook his head. "You keep trying to tell me how I am. Yes, I've never been exclusive with anyone before, but I can get behind anything once. We can…try it on for size." He shrugged.

"You…want to date me?" she said incredulously.

"Date? Well, I don't know how to actually define it, but we'll figure it out. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Before anything happens between us, you have to do something."

To say 'anything' was on the tip of Sakura's tongue, but a voice came from inside the gates.

"Oi, Sakura!"

Sakura leaned to the side and looked around Kakashi to see Naruto waving happily as he approached, followed closely by a brooding and sleepy looking Sasuke.

"What did you want me to do?" she said quickly while refocusing on Kakashi, her hand moving in a 'hurry up' sort of gesticulation.

"Tell them." Kakashi tugged his mask up and turned around to see the two men walking towards them. "If you want this to happen, you'll be upfront with them. Being home changes things. You might find it harder than you think to start something with me when everyone will know. Better to be sure, don't you think?"

"You knew they were coming before you asked, didn't you," she sighed. "I can't just blurt out that I want to…go to bed with you…to them!" Sakura's eyes darted back and forth between Kakashi and her two approaching teammates.

"You don't have to be explicit, but you have to be honest," Kakashi said calmly as he turned to find Naruto and Sasuke finally coming up to them. He added quietly, "If I'm willing to take a chance, you have to be as well. Sneaking around is beneath us."

"Hey Sakura, we didn't expect you until this afternoon. It's like six o'clock in the morning." Naruto shouted out as he ran up and bear-hugged the kunoichi.

"Ug, Naruto…too tight," she winced while pushing on his chest.

"We were just going to get some breakfast before our mission debriefing. I hear you were wounded." Naruto added, trying to lift the side of her red, sewn-up shirt.

"Hey, don't!" She slapped his hand away. "I was hurt a little, but I'm all right. I'm just tired. We've been walking all night and haven't slept." Sakura glanced at Kakashi who had his blue book out in his hands and was now completely ignoring all of them. His ubiquitous aloofness suddenly pained her.

"Well, we knew you would be all right. You were in Kakashi's capable hands, right Senpai?" Naruto chided happily to his old sensei.

Kakashi nodded a little, not looking up. "Talented hands, I'd say."

Sakura slapped her forehead. He was going to be the death of her, she was sure.

"Why don't you come for breakfast," Sasuke mumbled, grabbing one of Sakura's arms. "Naruto and I came home early from our mission to see you after we'd heard you were injured in Sand. It was lucky to catch you just now. We didn't expect you until later."

_Yeah lucky_, Sakura thought ruefully.

"Yeah," Naruto added, grabbing her other arm. "My stomach hurts, I'm so hungry. Come on. Sasuke's buying."

"I never said that," Sasuke mumbled to Sakura.

They tugged her a little and she dug her feet into the ground. "Wait, I can't. I have other things to do this morning," she said quickly.

"Like what?" Naruto laughed.

"Like a hot shower and bed," she added. "Let go of me, Naruto.

"Hey Kakashi," Sasuke let go of Sakura and turned to the Copy-nin. "You're welcome to come for breakfast too."

Kakashi snapped his book shut and his eyes creased with a hidden, overly-happy smile. "I have things to do myself. A hot shower and bed was my plan as well. But thanks anyway. I'll see you three later."

He waved two fingers as he began to walk away.

Sakura though about that beautiful game-winning smile he had on under that mask and sighed. She couldn't just blurt out to them that she wanted to go to their Senpai's apartment, take off all her clothes, and let him lather her up – as wonderful as that sounded. She closed her eyes in defeat as Naruto began to march her away from the spot they had all met.

"See you at the debriefing tomorrow, Sakura," Kakashi called back without turning around.

She watched him walk away while she was tugged in a different direction until he turned a corner, and out of sight. Finding the end of her patience snapping like thin elastic, Sakura planted her feet in the dusty road and growled. "Damn it, you two. What is the big hurry?"

"What's the matter with you? Don't you want breakfast with us? Don't tell me you've got something better to do than to hang out with your two closest friends?" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. A shower, and maybe page 51," she grumbled back. But in her head, already she knew Kakashi was right. Telling them had to be at the right moment in the right way and this was not it. She doubted they would care, but thinking it and saying it were two different things.

"Come again?" Sasuke mumbled, one eyebrow up.

Sakura sighed in defeat and thought to herself - _not even once_.

* * *

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. The last part gave me a headache. One more chapter to finish off. 

Leafy.


	15. Chemical Reaction

Chapter 15 - Chemical Reaction

* * *

Sakura sighed and poked her food with a chopstick, watching the rubbery substance that passed for an egg half-an-hour before roll like a lopsided ball over her plate. For that same half hour, she'd ignored the typical Sasuke-Naruto banter of _nothing worth listening to_. If she had to recall what they said to save her life, she'd be dead for sure. 

Other thoughts consumed her, making her shy away from her food and sigh repeatedly without realizing. It would be the same thoughts she would have in bed later – trying to sleep and failing. Kakashi was probably home in his bed, clean, comfortable, sleeping deeply…and alone. She was sitting in a small dingy café, drinking cold tea and obsessing over body chemistry while gauging whether the toothpicks would hold her eyes open.

Why did the chakra between her and Kakashi bond so strongly? That question should have been on her mind earlier, but it seemed that her thoughts were congested with ideas of how to get into Kakashi's thoughts (and bed), preferably by way of under his perfect skin.

Now she thought of how each touch they shared tickled and stimulated one another. The hair on her arms would stretch to his energy, and the shiver of gooseflesh would come with just a brush against him.

At least three times they had used a chakra jutsu that would go inside the other's body. The first time, she had stimulated his skin to feel like it was cold, and then he did it to her in return, chilling her feet to wake her up. Then, in the bar, he used his chakra to locate hers, pushing it up inside her and pleasurably invading every inch of her own chakra highway.

_That was it!_ His chakra had stayed inside her and hers inside of him. If she weren't so bent on the body chemistry of it, she could have admitted it was almost romantic to have him inside her – in one sense anyway. Their chakra had lingered in the other and would try to return to its proper host when they touched_. It couldn't be anything else_…

Sakura supposed that if they expelled enough chakra using any jutsu, they would eventually draw out the foreign energy. In the same vein, she imagined if they were to stay connected in some way physically for enough time, the chakra would also find its way back into the body it rightfully belonged. Of course, the second option was much more appealing to her and a perfectly valid excuse to be in close contact with Kakashi for an extended amount of time.

And then she imagined that had she been bold enough to tell her droning teammates that she wanted to be with Kakashi and start a relationship, she'd be there now, exchanging chakra in the most mind-blowing way.

Instead she was sitting in a sticky booth, catching snippets of them now extolling the virtues of throwing stars as opposed to those cumbersome kunai.

"You look tired, Sakura," Naruto finally interpreted from her lazy lean on her elbow. He nudged her with his foot under the table from where he sat across from her.

"I told you I was walking all night. I really want to go home." She turned her face to the window and put her forehead on the cool glass.

"Tell us how you got injured," Sasuke asked in his typical manner of being not really interested.

Sakura closed her eyes. "No."

"Hey! I have a question for you, Sakura. And I really need you to be honest with me," Naruto said in an uncharacteristically serious tone, making some measure of noise as he shifted on the vinyl booth seat to lean forward.

It made Sakura sit up and look at him only to finding his blue eyes narrowed and some sort of intensity screwed up on the rest of his face. "What is it?" she said quietly, suddenly worried that she'd given something away at the gate, or even here at the table. Naruto wasn't very perceptive so it must have been horribly, horribly obvious.

Naruto folded his hands on the table, dipped his head and looked her straight in the eyes. "Did you…at any time on your long mission…happen to…see Kakashi's face?"

Sakura's breakfast slid back down her esophagus. "Damn it. I thought you were going to ask something else," she growled half in anger, half in relief.

"What did you think he was going to ask?" Sasuke added from beside her, his sudden interest betraying his bored tone as his eyes narrowed.

Sakura was reminded that Sasuke _was_ perceptive as she felt her chest constrict. She looked at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape.

"No, no, no," Naruto chimed in, waving his hand over Sasuke's breakfast, inches from the Uchiha's face. "Don't distract her. I want to know if she saw his face."

Thanks to Naruto, Sakura saw a way out of Sasuke's budding interrogation. "I did actually!" she squeaked with forced excitement at the blond across from her, completely ignoring Sasuke.

"Wha…what does he look like?" Naruto breathed out, suddenly focused on Sakura like she'd never witnessed before.

Sakura thought that ramen was the only thing that could hold his attention like that.

Sasuke sighed, and turned his gaze to the window, but they knew he was listening just as intently as Naruto.

"Well…how should I say this? He's got…teeth…and lips and…skin." Sakura tapped her chin in thought. "Oh, and every day, there is some stubble on his face that he shaves."

"You didn't see his face," Sasuke said matter-of-factly, his arms crossing tightly.

Sakura shrugged, "Think what you want."

"I bet he looks like a girl under his mask," Naruto laughed while kicking Sasuke under the table. "Why else would he hide? He's probably too pretty to look mean so he keeps covered up. Does he look like a girl, Sakura?"

Sakura flicked at piece of egg at Naruto. "He doesn't look like a girl. He looks like….well, he's a really, really_…really_ good looking man. Probably the best-looking man I've ever seen – like a movie star. I suppose he might get too much of your kind of attention, Sasuke, if he was unmasked. He's not hard on the eyes at all."

"Movie star?" Naruto laughed. "Maybe the Icha Icha Paradise movie."

_"_Oh God," Sakura mumbled to herself, suddenly thinking about the smutty blue book and all the things she wanted to dog-ear for future reference when with the dirty-minded copy-nin.

"I'm leaving," she moaned. "Move, Sasuke."

Sakura nudged the Uchiha hard, even bringing her foot up to push his calf until he got out of her way. She slid out of the booth and stood at the table edge until Sasuke had calmly situated himself back onto the seat.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not good company right now," she sighed before turning and trudging out of the door without a goodbye.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and grinned widely. "She didn't finish her food." He leaned over the table, slid the plate of half eaten food over and dug in.

"Disgusting," Sasuke said with an upturned nose before letting his head fall back on the seat to watch Sakura through the window as she slunk away. "That was quite an abrupt departure. What do you think she thought you were going to ask her that almost set her off?"

"Maybe something about Kakashi?" Naruto said through a mouthful of egg without looking up. "Maybe something happened while they were away. She said she thinks he's hot."

"Maybe," Sasuke mumbled as he rubbed his jaw gently. "Well, she'll spill it in time. She can't keep anything to herself for long."

Naruto looked up from the plate for a second at Sasuke. "Why don't we take her for a drink tonight and pry it out of her, if there's anything to get? Five bucks says Kakashi groped her.

After a pause in thought, Sasuke nodded slowly, finding it amazing that Naruto had picked up on the conversation when he was usually a blank slate while shoveling in food.

"Ten says she was the instigator."

* * *

Sakura wandered toward home feeling almost abused and a little guilty for hiding something so monumental from her best friends. But male friends weren't like female friends. They got angry or jealous when other men were involved – well Naruto did anyway. 

There was history between all of them, Kakashi included. In her mind, Sakura tried to imagine how she would tell them and their reactions, but there was no way to guess. It was one situation that had never reared its unusual head before.

She needed advice.

Turning left instead of right at the road to her apartment, she slipped down a side street, over a backyard fence, leapt up onto the roofs of the buildings, and made her way across Konoha to that familiar curb where she sat waiting for Kakashi on the first day of their mission.

He lived on the second floor in a small apartment. As his teammates, they'd all had to go there on the odd occasion to bring him mission reports, fetch something he needed or to make sure he wasn't dead. Sasuke had been there the most. Sakura had been there only twice – a number she hoped to multiply.

Approaching the foyer of his building, she pushed the button that was labeled "vacant" and waited. Within a moment, the inner door buzzed so she pushed it open and began the trudge up the stairs to his apartment.

To her surprise, he answered the door wearing just a pair of jogging pants and a damp white towel draped over his wet hair.

"I really didn't think I'd see you again today," Kakashi smirked.

"Well, I've come up with a theory about our chakra connection and our body chemistry, and thought we should explore ways to get rid of it. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

With a small sigh, Kakashi leaned heavily up against the doorframe. "It would have been a perfect time if you'd told them."

"How do you know that I didn't?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Well first off, you wouldn't start the conversation with a lesson in chemistry. Second, you don't look nervous. I imagine if you'd come back for my earlier offer, you'd look a little more frightened."

"I wouldn't be…frightened of…of being with you," she mumbled, eyes glued to the damp towel sliding down onto his shoulder.

An easy smile crossed Kakashi's face. "If you weren't frightened, you would have told them. Anyway, I'm pretty tired, Sakura. And since you aren't coming to my bed, you should go home to your own."

"I…can't tell them. I don't know what to say. I have no idea how they'll react." Sakura rubbed her forehead tersely, her fingers turning white at the knuckles.

"You'll figure out a way or you won't," Kakashi yawned. He suddenly leaned forward, grasped her hand away from her face, and spun her until she was facing down the stairs.

Sakura could feel his chest against her back as he leaned over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide with shock; she was caught in the heat of his skin, and the clean scent of his shampoo and everything that smelled and felt so Kakashi.

His mouth pressed against her ear. "There's no rush, Sakura. You know where to find me if it ever comes to it," he whispered. And then very quickly, he took a step back. "Now, get some sleep."

With a hard smack on her behind, he made her trip forward slightly. But when she turned around, his door clicked shut.

His willpower was exasperating.

Sleep deprivation and sexual frustration, she thought ruefully. Perfect combination for relaxing…

* * *

Usually after an extended mission, ninja were given an entire day after getting back to decompress and put their report in order for the next day. Sakura had planned (since the fun plan was a no-go) to sleep until the next morning and see Kakashi again at the mission debriefing. 

She'd set her alarm for six AM, planning to do her hair and make-up to perfection before going in. But it wasn't the alarm that woke her. And it damn sure wasn't six AM.

The light tug of a sheet made her come out of a perfectly good dream to find a man's fingers pinching the cotton and slowly dragging it away from her body.

Her eyes flew open and her arms clamped down on the sheet just in time.

Na – ruuuu – to! You are dead!" Sakura shouted at him as he leaned over the bed, dropping the sheet in his sudden terror of being turned into just a fist full of hair and nothing else.

"I'm sorry, but you didn't put any clothes on. How am I supposed to not look?" Naruto defended, his hands up in supplication. "It's your own fault for not locking your door."

"I see. Well I guess it'll be your own fault when I leave a Naruto shaped stain on my wall."

"Point taken," Naruto mumbled and spun around before slinking back out of her bedroom.

Sakura glanced at the darkened blinds, sighed, and looked at the clock. 10:30 PM. Not exactly a full night's rest. Not even five hours since the last time she looked at the clock from her bed. With some marked effort, she slid off her mattress, tightening the sheet around her and dragged it like the train of an evening gown as she trudged along.

Emerging from the bedroom, she spotted Sasuke sitting at her table, legs crossed and drinking tea as if the lived there. _…Bastard._

"What are you two doing here? I haven't slept much and I have a mission debrief in the morning at 7:30." She fell against the doorframe of her bedroom and rubbed at her eyes to clear her blurred vision. "I can't even think properly right now."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and then back to Sakura from his safe place near the apartment door. "It's actually a matter of a bet. And well, we thought we'd take our favorite female teammate for a drink to celebrate that you didn't die!"

"Cute."

Naruto finally decided she wasn't going to kill him with Sasuke there and stepped forward, giving Sakura his best grin. "Come on now, you deserve it. Just one?"

"I deserve sleep. Besides, I've sworn off drinking. I get into too much trouble."

Sasuke jumped in finally, as usual, for the last word. "We'll just wait here while you put on some clothes."

"But I….I didn't…say…"

"Chop, chop," Sasuke said dismissively.

* * *

The pub was overcrowded as usual. Emotional drinking was a favorite pastime of ninja and Sakura had to admit it was right up her alley. It had been days since the stress was off. A drink might be good for blowing off steam and forgetting the frustration Kakashi was giving her. 

Besides, how much trouble could she get into with just a drink?

"Oh, déjà-vu" she mumbled.

"Let's go to the bar," Naruto chimed while stomping in a little too happily.

Sasuke shook his head and rubbed his eyes while Sakura fought turning around and leaving.

"Here, Sakura. You sit between us." Naruto patted a barstool beside him lovingly.

"Listen you two," she began as she sat down and placed her feet on the brass rail around the mahogany bar, "I'm going to have one drink…to celebrate _living_…and then I'm leaving. I've got an early meeting and I have to be in top form."

"Why?" Naruto asked while waving over the bartender.

"Why what?"

"What is so special about Tsunade that you need to be in top form?"

"Well…I…she's my Shishou…and the Hokage…"

"Hm," Sasuke cut in. "I didn't think it mattered that much since you two know each other so well. There isn't another reason is there?"

"Wait!" Sakura pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke. "What are you up to? And what was that thing Naruto said about a bet? And if you think you are prying me for information on my mission, you have another thing coming. My lips are sealed. Locked- down."

Sakura crossed her arms tightly and raised an eyebrow.

With a devilish grin, Naruto pushed a drink in front of Sakura. "You really don't think much of us, do you? You're sitting with two of your best friends. Just drink up. We'll take care of you. I promise."

Sakura eyed him with the growing suspicion that she should get off the stool and leave. But her incoherent thought patterns due largely to sleep deprivation reasoned that a drink would help her later.

"Okay. Maybe just one."

* * *

"…so then, this guy Shin….he was hot too…gets out this bottle of crazy potent stuff and guess which copy-nin drinks it?" Sakura slurred as she leaned lazily on her elbow. "That's right! Copy-ninja Kakashi!" 

"Oh, yes. I thought it might have been the other Copy-nin," Sasuke said evenly while Naruto sat there stunned – mouth open - shocked from Sakura's romantic revelations about their old Sensei, brought on by the eight drinks they had obligingly bought her.

"…and then back at the hotel room…well, he made my toes curl when he kissed me _again_ – but better this time. Wow, that man can really kiss. I certainly wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating cookies."

"What?! Bed!?" Naruto blurted out.

Sakura tried to change elbows and almost fell off her stool before Sasuke's quick hands steadied her. The lopsided smile she had for two hours turned into a snorted laugh.

Slapping himself in the forehead, Naruto mumbled, "What else happened?"

"Not much. I mean the damn drunk fell asleep on me, just when things were getting good!" she laughed and gestured wildly, knocking over an empty glass and spraying peanuts across the bar top. "But he said I had to tell you guys before anything else happened, and I can't do that so I guess he and I are done. Too bad. I like him."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose. "Like him? You mean you have some feelings for him?"

"Did I just say like? I meant reeeeaaaaalllly, really like. You know, like, I'd like to like Kakashi all night long, like. And I'm sure he would have liked to like me back in all sorts of positions," she said loudly enough for the people around them to hear – causing heads to turn.

Naruto's forehead was on the bar now. "I think some people in the back of the bar missed that, Sakura."

"Oh?" she giggled, and with teetering drunken skill, stood up, climbed on her knees up on her barstool, cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted. "In case you didn't hear it, I have a hot thing for Hatake Kakashi! That's the hots, people. Like, damn, he's hot! I want to go over to his place right now and fu…"

"Whoa!" Sasuke grabbed her roughly and she fell with a squeal over his shoulder. If he could have walked through the crowd and covered his face, he would have. Unfortunately, there wasn't a soul in the bar not laughing, not staring, not shaking their heads at them, except of course for the girl or two that shouted back things like "get in line."

By the time they reached the door of the bar and pushed their way out into the coolness of the small morning hours, Sakura was lying limp over Sasuke's shoulder.

Naruto stopped his nervous half-run and turned around to look with blatant panic at Sasuke, who had stopped in his tracks, and was rubbing his cheek and grinning.

Naruto whimpered out, "I can't believe you're smiling. She's going to kill us in the most painful way possible. I like my limbs. I really need to keep them."

With a slight air of success, Sasuke (ignoring Naruto) said, "You owe me ten bucks."

* * *

The sun was beating in the windows like someone screaming in her face when Sakura finally woke up. Her stomach was churning painfully as she sat up too quickly and smacked her head on the toilet. 

No wonder her back ached.

"I'm…going…to kill you two…" she hissed before she leaned over the toilet.

* * *

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," she chanted as she rushed down the road toward the Hokage tower. It was eight thirty and for the first time in her life, Haruno Sakura was late for a meeting - and not a meeting with just anyone. 

There was no time for getting cleaned up. She tried hard to get the make-up off her eyes and to brush her hair into something that looked more like hair and less like a rat nest. But the tell-tale dark lines and pasty skin would give her away.

Hell, she still smelled like alcohol. What was she thinking?

Never ever had anyone managed to get her drunk like that without her being able to put a stop to it. Perhaps it was just the comfort of being home? Perhaps Sasuke used his sharingan?

There was no way she would be off her guard like that – even if the drinks were tasty…and she had unresolved issues…and pent up feelings…

_Damn it, I need better self control…_

Stopping outside the door of the Hokage tower, Sakura leaned on the wall and took some deep breaths. She felt desperate to get sick, but she couldn't add vomit to her already obnoxious boozy aroma. She was practically oozing it. There wasn't much lower she could sink, but adding insult to injury was definitely not going to happen.

Finally feeling it was relatively safe to proceed, Sakura trudged up the stairs until she reached the office outside the Hokage's office. Shizune sat there at her desk, reading something medically related but her head snapped up when Sakura entered the room.

"Is she angry?" Sakura mumbled hurriedly, her throat tight as she glanced at the closed door of Tsunade's office.

Shizune's face suddenly grew the most devious looking grin Sakura had ever seen – next to Naruto's. "Hi there, Sakura."

"Is Kakashi here yet?" Sakura asked, a little more timidly.

"You don't know?" Shizune asked with mock innocence.

"How the hell would I know when he came in?" Sakura hissed, feeling a little like Shizune knew something she didn't.

"I just thought you might have seen each other this morning already." Shizune's mouth twitched at the corners. "Oh, and I saw you at the pub last night."

"Oh?" Sakura's foot was tapping with nervousness. She couldn't believe Shizune wanted to have a casual little chat at a time like then.

"Mm-hm. But I don't think you were seeing much of anything when I saw you."

"Crap. Did I pass out or something?"

"Or something." With a snort of a laugh, Shizune pointed at the door with a hand over her mouth. "You'd better go in. Kakashi's been and gone already."

Sakura nodded half-heartedly, wondering what Shizune was laughing too hard about to tell her. It couldn't be good. Did she get sick at the bar? Did she pass out? Do something stupid?

Worse still, she was later than the consummately tardy Copy-nin. Certainly, if anything looked bad, it was that. With a sigh and some small reach for courage, Sakura shoved her hand in her hip-pack, pulled out the two recipe scrolls and pushed into her Shishou's office.

"Well well," Tsunade mumbled to some paperwork in her hands. "Look what the cat dragged in." Lifting her head, she spotted the mess that used to be her student and raised her eyebrows. "Seriously. You look like you were dragged through something before the cat dragged you in."

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura said quietly as she took a seat in front of the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade added unsympathetically, "I can smell you from here."

"Urrr," Sakura moaned. "I'm sorry, Shishou, but you know Naruto. They just showed up and dragged me out. They kept feeding me drinks, and then I don't remember how I got home. I swear I'll never drink again."

"Never say never, Sakura," Tsunade said coolly to her papers. "I believe you have something for me? Kakashi told me about the mission. I have his report here."

"And…?" Sakura said quietly as she stretched forward and placed the scrolls on the edge of the desk, shooting a nervous glance at the paper in the Hokage's fingers.

"And good job," Tsunade said evenly. "Was there something you wanted to add to the report?"

Sakura was shocked to see Tsunade turn the paper to display to her some neat writing signed with a smiley face, complete with scar.

"No…no, ma'am," she mumbled, stunned.

"Good, go home. Hangovers are unbecoming."

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. She jolted upright and teetered slightly with dizziness, but found her footing and moved to step away.

"Oh, just a minute, Sakura," Tsunade said sharply.

Sakura clenched her jaw and waited. She figured it would be too easy to be so late and reportless and still get out without a reprimand. "Yes, Shishou?"

"Take the scroll you brought back and make the recipe. Tell me if it's any good. You know how I hate to bake."

Had Sakura been in her right mind, she might have yelled at her old teacher for putting her life in danger just to get a cookie recipe. Tsunade's indifference brought it all back. But as it stood now, she just couldn't wait to get back into bed. Without a word, Sakura picked up the scroll they retrieved from Sand and took it with her.

But before she went home, she had one more little itch to scratch.

* * *

Kakashi flipped page twenty-one of his new amazing autographed blue Icha Icha Paradise special edition with full colour pages. It was Sakura's favorite part. It pulled a little chuckle out of him while he shifted on his favorite tree branch to cross his legs. 

"And what are you laughing about?" a stern familiar voice hissed from ten feet below him.

"You, actually. You must be getting stealthy. I didn't notice you come up," Kakashi replied cheerfully before snapping the book shut.

"And you find that funny why?" she continued on, anger all intact.

_Ohhh, hangover_, Kakashi thought to himself. "You look sleepy and…well, pretty hung-over. Why don't you go home and rest instead of coming here and getting pissed off at me. My day has been going well up until now."

"Well I'm glad to hear your day is wonderful. Mine has been less than stellar. On the way over here, I got chuckled at, winked at, and asked how my big night was. Apparently, I must have passed out or something at the bar because everyone is enjoying some private joke at my expense."

"Ah, yeah. Genma stopped by this morning. He did mention something about seeing you at the bar and that you might have been a little less than sober." Kakashi stood up and dropped to the ground in front of Sakura who was rubbing her head and looking like she was ready to ruin his shoes with her stomach contents. "Are you all right?" he asked with some concern, but just a little. He was never one to coddle foolish self indulgence.

"No…not really. I've just been thinking." Sakura looked up at his mask, only one small portion of his face showing. There was just too much hidden when he was completely in uniform.

"Thinking about what?" Kakashi prodded, crossing his arms casually and shifting his weight to one foot, one thumb stuck in the pages of his book to hold his place.

"I was wondering why it had to be me to say something to Naruto and Sasuke. Obviously you were the one who wished for them to know. Then I started to wonder why it was their business at all. Of course, that led me to the idea that maybe, just maybe you were counting on the fact that I couldn't tell them. Maybe the whole idea of a relationship has sunk in and you are back to your old ways." Sakura's eyebrows rose accusingly as she crossed her own arms.

Kakashi sighed out a long breath and said calmly, "You are hung over, tired, and obviously grouchy. Now is probably not the right time to discuss this." He tried to put his hand on her arm in an attempt to steer her toward her home, but she shirked away.

"I can't tell them. I can't do it. You know I can't. I thought maybe rumors would start and then they'd get used to the idea before we made it their business, but that is what _I _want to do. Apparently you get to make all the rules," she grumbled.

"Have you talked to Naruto or Sasuke this morning? Actually, have you spoken with _anyone_ this morning?" Kakashi half-laughed.

"How can you think this is funny? I'm glad my frustration amuses you considering it's your entire fault," she shouted before spinning and stomping away quickly, kicking up dirt and stones as she went. "See you around, Hatake," she called behind her with a mock sweet tone. "You'll have to find something else to entertain you from now on."

She stomped on heavily for a minute, not daring to look back. But when he didn't stop her and didn't say anything, not even a laugh, she slowed down. Three more steps and she stopped. He was letting her walk away…

She turned around to look at the place he'd been standing to find he was already gone.

Twice since Sakura had arrived back home she'd ignored Naruto and Sasuke at her door. Naruto sounded apologetic, and Sasuke, as usual, indifferent. They'd left with the understanding that they weren't getting into the apartment for at least two days until she cooled off.

Five hours sleep had made her feel human again, and now she just wandered around in a t-shirt and jogging pants allowing herself to be lazy. It was only early evening and she still felt out of sorts with the entire Kakashi situation, but it was out of her control.

Sadly, the sense of disappointment and the loss of something that might have been great had it been allowed off the shelf sat heavy in her stomach. Of course, it could be the gut-rot as well.

The recipe Tsunade had given her sat open on her counter. The recipe scroll was from Temari in Sand, and was for regular chocolate chip cookies. There was a tiny pouch of special sugar in the scroll when Sakura opened it and so she felt some mild enthusiasm to make some.

After a big of mixing ingredients perfectly and putting them in the oven, Sakura decided to have a shower. Nothing like hot water and soap could make her feel awake and healthy again, even if her stomach still churned once in a while.

When the first drops hit her, her mind was already spinning on how much she wanted to see Kakashi. She'd been rather grouchy with him in the morning and wondered if he was upset with her. Not that Kakashi ever showed emotions he didn't want anyone to see…

He was stubborn and infuriating and downright…perfect.

She couldn't say how long she stayed in the water but the smell of cookies was already making its way into the open door of the bathroom. So Sakura figured she'd had enough washing, shaving and deodorizing, got redressed and was ready to grab some chocolate chip cookies and sulk alone in her bed.

The cookies were done to perfection when she pulled them from the oven, and taking a small plate of them and a glass of milk, she wandered into her darkened bedroom, not bothering to turn on the light. Putting the cookies on her night table, she slid onto the bed and stretched out, closed her eyes and sighed.

"It's about time," a familiar voice said from across the room. "I was beginning to fall asleep."

Sakura jolted up and switched on the bedside lamp in a panic. "What the…? How long have you been there?"

Kakashi grinned from where he lounged lazily on her chair in the darkest corner of the room holding a prized orange book. His mask and headband were off and his vest lay open. He was the picture of comfort. "Long enough to know you don't close your door when you shower," he smirked. "Are you going to kick me out?"

Sakura shook her head a little. "No." The idea of kicking him out of her bedroom seemed preposterous. "What are you doing here?" She raised a pink eyebrow at him.

"I've come for my lesson in chemistry. You started one this morning but we got sidetracked." His voice was entirely serious. He pushed himself out of the chair and stood at the foot of her bed, putting his book away into his hip pack.

Shaking her head, Sakura fell back on the bed with a sigh. She loved that he was there in her bedroom, but she was beginning to understand why he wanted their friends to know about them and felt she owed it to him as well. They shouldn't sneak around. If he were hers, she'd want the world to know. But having him standing so casually in her bedroom was cruel at best. "You, my friend, are the world's worst tease."

"I've never been called a tease before. I'm not sure I like it."

"Then don't show up in women's bedrooms without any intentions," she laughed.

Kakashi leaned forward, placing his hands on the bed and then proceeded to crawl up, straddling Sakura until he hovered over her.

Instantly, the mood changed and she felt frozen in place. "W…What are you doing?" she said quietly.

While running fingers along the hem of her shirt, and slowly lifting it to expose her stomach, Kakashi bent low and whispered on her abdomen, "Not teasing you."

A tingle of chakra ran through Sakura's body, along with the excitement of having his hands on her again. But she was puzzled by it, albeit excited. "I hate to stop you…I mean, I _really_ hate to stop you but why are you doing this?"

"You don't like it? I guess I should try harder," he laughed.

"Okay, wait," she said forcefully, sitting up and making Kakashi get up and lean back. "What about telling Sasuke and Naruto? I thought that was a big requirement of this. Honestly, I understand why you wanted me to and I'm all right with it. I'm still pretty pissed at them for getting me drunk but if you give me another day, I'll tell them."

Kakashi looked at her in a strange way and Sakura began to feel a little like she did with Shizune that morning – foolish and uniformed. "Why are you looking at me like that? What is going on? Why did you actually come over?"

"Well, I could say that it didn't matter and that they'd find out later, or I could say that I just wanted you too much to wait…which is partly true as I had planned to drop by all day. But to be honest, you basically announced your intentions for me at the bar last night to a very captive audience.

Sakura's eyes searched the ceiling as she flopped back down, absorbing what the Copy-nin had just told her. She smacked her forehead and lay still for just a moment while Kakashi shuffled over beside her on the bed and lay down as well.

Then she turned her head, looked at him and bit her lip. "You wanted me too much to wait?"

One corner of Kakashi's mouth rose in his cocky way, and Sakura smiled back.

"Something like that," he said quietly.

"What did I say at the bar?"

"Let's just say no one will get a false impression of how you feel." He laughed a little and then shrugged off his vest.

In the meantime, Sakura leaned over and grabbed a cookie, thinking about how all the possibilities she'd be hoping for were now open to her. She lay on her back taking in the idea that Kakashi was here, in her bed, and there was nothing left to do but enjoy each other.

Absently, she took a bite.

"Oh damn."

Kakashi's hand stopped where it was making its way along her side. "What?"

"That's the best damn cookie I've ever had."

Kakashi laughed as he went back to running his hand up her shirt and pressing his mouth to her jaw line.

"Kakashi? Before we do anything else, I think we need to be specific on how we're going to proceed." Sakura said as she dropped what was left of the cookie on the floor. Her voice was breathy and she could barely speak through the tingle of chakra and the stir of pleasure from each touch of his fingers.

"All right," he whispered against her ear. "Just tell me what you'd like to do."

Sakura tossed the half-eaten cookies back on the plate and rolled over to press her body against his, grinning slyly. "Page 51."

Kakashi leaned back a little to look at her face, "Come again?"

"Oh, I'm sure I will."

* * *

Well, another fic finished. Thanks to icarust for the read through and the bouncing for many chapters. Sorry to everyone for the ridiculous shamefully long wait for this chapter. It was longer than usual and a little too fluffy at the end but oh well. How else to end crack but with fluff. lol. Thanks for the lovely reviews. I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing.

Leafy


End file.
